Young Audiences of Western New York, Inc. Partnerships

Young Audiences of Western New York, Inc. is involved in a number of partnerships with schools and community organizations to provide artist performances, workshops, and residencies as part of in-school, after-school, and out of school programs. YA-WNY's partnership programs include:

Writing for Life: places an arts-based residency with professional teaching artists writer/ poet, Sherry Robbins and art therapist Kristen Crosson into three local educational and rehabilitation residences for at-risk and alternative education adolescents.  This program brings the artistic expertise of YA-WNY together with health and human services expertise of Renaissance Campus, Compass House Resource Center, and People, Inc.  These organizations serve special needs youths who are recovering from drug addictions, escaping unsafe home environments, and/or life on the streets, or are developmentally disabled. As students are lead through writing and visual arts workshops, they are inspired through found imagery to create "altered books," collections of their written work and related visual art.  The two art forms serve each other, providing material and inspiration.

Empire State Partnerships: YA-WNY has two Empire State Partnerships funded by the New York State Council on the Arts Arts in Education grants program. Empire State Partnerships support cultural organizations that work in collaboration with schools to provide arts in education programs that focus on student achievement of the New York State Learning Standards and contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning in New York State schools. The programs involve collaborations between teaching artists and teachers as they create units of study that explore the artistic process and provide a rich experience in an artistic medium for students. YA-WNY partners with H. O. Brumsted Elementary School in Holland, NY and Holley Elementary School in Holley, NY.

YA-WNY has additional partnerships with the Buffalo Boys & Girls Clubs, the Salvation Army, Cradle Beach Camp, and Heritage Centers. If you are interested in developing a partnership with YA-WNY please contact us.

YA-WNY also collaborates with other arts and cultural organizations, like Squeaky Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources, to expand the number and variety of programs offered.