Our Teaching Artist, David Freeman has been leading a Percussion Ensemble at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporations Beacon Community Center for three years. This March for the first time he brought along his five member band the Outer Bridge Ensemble to give a lecture demonstration for the entire after-school program.

The band performed for the students and invited them to take part by clapping along and counting bars. Between songs, David led a Q&A session. Students asked the band members about their instruments, their musical backgrounds, and more as they gained an understanding of what it's like to be a musician. David reported that students were more connected and engaged in their individual learning after the experience of participating in this exciting session.

Special thanks to the Outer Bridge Ensemble for sharing their talents with our students, and to David Freeman for all that he brings to our students. 

Learn more about the Outer Bridge Ensemble.

We're pleased to announce that the new and improved artstogrow.org went live on March 26th. Many friends and supporters of Arts to Grow were on-hand that evening for the official unveiling at Inc Lounge.

One big change you'll notice in the new platform is that our blog is now integrated directly into the site at artstogrow.org/blog. If you've been following us on Wordpress or Tumblr, don't forget to update your bookmarks! Another great new feature is our fully-loaded home page where you can see all our latest blog posts, Twitter feed and Facebook page. Please join us on social media!

Also check out our Upcoming Events page to learn when and where our students' culminating events are happening and come meet our leaders and volunteers. And, don't forget to see our kids in action on our Gallery and Videos pages. We welcome your feedback; check back often as we'll be adding new content regularly.

Our very special thank to the generous pro-bono services of Rubenstein Technology Group and  Blowfish Brands as well as the skilled volunteers who made our new site a reality in just 5 months.

Learn how multiple teams made a significant impact for kids.