About the Cultural Access Program
The New Art Center’s Cultural Access Program is an umbrella for a variety of programs, all of which provide increased community outreach by creating more diverse and inclusive programming. Each of these programs serve a different population in the community. Many of the participants come from groups that are commonly marginalized, like youth and adults with disabilities. Other programs were created to serve a specific problem in the community, like our expanded Expressive Arts Therapy program, which is a response to the rise in mental health concerns, especially among teens.
The New Art Center, which has emerged as a very popular safe space for teens, has launched several internship and young leadership development programs to meet the needs that local teens have expressed. Additionally, the New Art Center now hosts Community Cultural Days that help us better reflect the diversity in our community in our programming. These year round family friendly events assure that everyone in the community can see themselves at the New Art Center. Lastly, the New Art Center provides its excellent art education programs – full term classes, camps and workshops – free of charge to artists and students of all ages who qualify.
What defines the Cultural Access Program is that it provides free access to art and creativity to the entire community, regardless of ability or income level. All aspects of the New Art Center’s Cultural Access programming are initiated to meet the current needs of the community, align with our DEI goals, and are conducted in partnership with a wide variety of community organizations. The Education Coordinator, Sarah Moriarty, is the point person for this project. She can be reached at [email protected].
