About Young Audiences of Western New York, Inc.

Young Audiences of Western New York, Inc. (YA-WNY) is a not-for-profit arts-in-education organization dedicated to making the visual, performing, and literary arts a part of young people's lives in order to enhance their development as creative and productive human beings.

• We are the local chapter of Young Audiences, Inc., the nation's leading arts-in-education organization with 32 chapters in 22 states.

• We promote a diverse roster of more than 150 professional artists in music, dance, theater and the visual and literary arts who perform for and interact with students and their families from pre-kindergarten through high school.

• We have provided over 45 years of service to public, private, and parochial schools, and community centers in the eight- county region of Western New York.

• We annually provide over 100,000 artist contacts for young people and their families.

• We collaborate with other cultural organizations to prepare young people to be the cultural consumers of tomorrow.

• We pioneer exciting inner-city programs to foster self-esteem, develop leadership qualities, spark intellectual inquiry, and launch a life-long appreciation of the arts in some of Western New York’s neediest young people.

• We launch partnerships between area schools, local foundations and corporations to meet the needs resulting from cut backs in arts education in public schools.

• We provide custom-designed artist workshops and residencies for all disciplines and grade levels which integrate into classroom curricula and address New York State Education Standards.

• Without the outreach of Young Audiences of Western New York, Inc., many young people might never experience a live performance or interact directly with a professional teaching artist.