We are thrilled to announce that Spoil Me Fashion will be donating a portion of their proceeds from the entire month of February to ART START. Check out their beautiful jewelry here: www.spoilmefashion.com/charity

These beautiful posters were made by Chad Phillips, a friend of ART START. He donated 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the posters to ART START! Thank you, Chad!

Today, the novel “Nameless” hit bookshelves! Written by Kyle Chais, a former homeless teen, the book proves that there is hope for ALL homeless youth.
Save the date, Feb. 8th – 7-9pm, for a celebration in his honor where a portion of book sales will benefit Art Start. Good Luck Kyle! Check out coverage from the Daily News mentioning Art Start!

Feb 8th, 7-9pm
AOA Bar & Grill
35 Avenue of the Americas
NYC,NY

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/demons-homeless-shelter-a-young-man-finds-angels-article-1.1002069#commentpostform

Per Santa’s request, there will be a four-hour Open Bar of Beer, Wine, & Whiskey During the Show

A Percentage of Proceeds from Each Ticket Goes To ART START !

To Purchase Tickets to This Event, Click HERE

Date: November 6th, 2011
Time: 10pm-2am
Location: Tribeca Grand Hotel on 2 Avenue of the Americas
Tickets: Minimum donation of $10
For more information: www.yolkny.org

100% of net proceeds from the event are to be donated to ART START.

“When you hit the 70 mark, some of your friends have been destroyed or are dead,” the comedian and activist says by phone. “You keep going, but you do have a feeling that as you’re walking forward, someone’s turning the lights out behind you.”

One of America’s most beloved and groundbreaking joke-tellers, Cosby has leveraged his fame — he is the first black actor to win a lead actor Emmy and beloved for his groundbreaking series “The Cosby Show” — to give back.

“We really don’t want waste time,” he says of his septuagenarian peers. “I just don’t want to leave without thanking those who are doing good. It doesn’t have to be a big thing.”

Cosby has found one of those things in an Oct. 13 benefit for the organization Art Start at New York City’s 1,500-seat Town Hall. The comedian will be joined by Chita Rivera and Mark Nadler for a one-night-only performance of “Laugh, Sing, Dance.”

“I’ll do part of my show that I’ve been doing around the country,” says Rivera, 78, who is an old friend of Cosby’s. She’ll be singing songs from musicals she’s most famous for, including “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” ”Chicago,” ”West Side Story” and “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Art Start, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, has been providing visual and performing arts programs for New York City’s most at-risk youth, offering an outlet for children who are homeless, leaving jail or coping with parents in crisis.

“Many of these children are homeless. Many are feeling strongly unempowered, not having a choice about anything,” Cosby says. “Through touching, feeling, hearing, seeing, these kids may be able to disappear from the gloom in their heart.”

Nadler, a singer and pianist who is a member of Art Start’s board of directors, brought the two acclaimed performers together for the event. Ticket prices range from $35 to $150.

Tony Award-winning Rivera was most recently on Broadway in “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life” and was recently seen in the Signature Theatre’s production of “The Visit.” She doing a reading for a new musical and is slated to continue her concerts.

For Cosby, helping kids is a mission and getting to work with Rivera is just icing on the cake. “She has one of the greatest laughs. Period. Especially at our age,” he says. “She just laughs so hard so it’s my pleasure.

___

Online:

Art Start: http://www.art-start.org

Rivera: http://www.chitarivera.com

Cosby: http://www.billcosby.com

Benefit Concert Marks the 20 Year Anniversary of ART START

New York – ART START, an organization dedicated to providing creative arts to transform New York’s at-risk kids, is hosting the “Laugh, Sing, Dance” benefit at Town Hall in NYC on Thursday, October 13th. Tickets for the evening, which will feature performances by Bill Cosby, Chita Rivera and Mark Nadler, are available via Ticketmaster, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800-982-2787 (prices range from $35 to $150). One-hundred percent of ticket sales benefit ART START and will serve to help fund the organization’s mission of providing the underprivileged children of New York with confidence, creativity and hope through the arts.

National treasures Bill Cosby and Chita Rivera join internationally acclaimed virtuoso Mark Nadler for a one-night-only music and comedy spectacular. Nadler’s personal interpretation of the American Songbook brings new life to cherished standards, Rivera dazzles with her endless energy and Broadway brass, and Cosby’s stories leave audiences rolling in the aisles. Nadler’s dedication to ART START’s mission of bringing the arts to New York’s at-risk and homeless children is the inspiration behind assembling this star-studded cast. A night of laughter, singing and dancing, the audience will be entertained by the best while supporting ART START on the organization’s 20th anniversary.

One of the funniest storytellers in America, Cosby’s audiences laugh from the moment he walks on stage. Those who fell in love with The Cosby Show, one of the biggest hits in television history, reconnect with the hilarity of this master storyteller. A performer, author, television producer, educator and musician, Cosby is a nationally recognized advocate for families and children.

Mark Nadler, a singer-pianist-comedian extraordinaire who is a member of ART START’s Board of Directors and frequent volunteer working with ART START kids said, “I’ve been leading music workshops in a homeless shelter for ART START for nearly three years. These kids display a kind of unabashed joy when making music that I’ve rarely seen. You would think that these kids, who appear to have little hope in their lives, would be tragic and sullen. It’s quite the opposite. Give them the opportunity to express themselves fully through music or painting and WATCH OUT!! I started volunteering at ART START hoping to inspire some tragic kids. Instead, I got the opportunity every week to see kids revel in the power of being creative – and that inspires me! My goal with this concert is to celebrate that joy and that inspiration – the power of art at work.”

Rivera is one of the theatre’s most acclaimed performers. She has won Tony Awards for her performances in two Kander and Ebb musicals, The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Rivera was also nominated for her work in Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Bring Back Birdie, Merlin, Jerry’s Girls and her most recent outing, the Tony-winning revival of Nine. Rivera’s other Broadway credits include the musical Seventh Heaven, her Broadway debut; Mr. Wonderful; the original production of West Side Story; and Bajour. She appeared in the film version of “Sweet Charity,” starred in the world premiere of Kander and Ebb’s The Visit, and also headlined Bernarda Albaat the Mark Taper Forum. Rivera was most recently on Broadway in Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. She was recently seen in the Signature Theatre’s production of The Visit. Rivera’s new solo recording is titled “And Now I Swing” and is available on the Yellow Sound label.

NYC is the capitol of performing arts, but it also has one of the highest rates of homeless youth in the country. ART START has recognized the need and believes the children of NYC deserve to have a part in the culture of the city, to be inspired to succeed and given the tools to do so. ART START’s work with teenage youth participants enrolled in alternative and incarceration programs has had dramatic results. The hundreds of youth mandated to the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services by the state of New York’s juvenile justice system had approximately 55 percent of youth successfully complete the program in 2010. Youth at the same facility participating in ART START had a 90-percent graduation rate. Arts programs are how ART START provides children with the resources and outlets to change their own lives through the creative process – and what inspired the organization’s tagline, Art Saves Lives.

About ART START:
Since 1991, ART START has been providing visual and performing arts programs for some of New York City’s most at-risk youth by connecting with kids ages 5-21 living in homeless shelters, transient on the streets, coming out of jail, or surviving with parents in crisis. ART START uses the arts to provide children and young teenagers with opportunities for success by giving them tools, structure, support and most importantly, a chance to be heard. ART START empowers underserved young people by connecting them to the contacts, resources, and tools that provide them with genuine opportunities to express themselves through creativity in a safe and open setting. For more information, visit: www.art-start.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Cassandra Mills / Janell Vantrease
Sunshine, Sachs & Associates
212-691-2800
Mills@SunshineSachs.com
Vantrease@SunshineSachs.com

Position # 1(scroll down for 2nd position): Art and Music Management

ART START seeks undergraduate and graduate students in the education, non-profit management, arts, arts education and related fields to serve as a an administrative intern for the fall of 2011 and/or Spring of 2012.

The purpose of ART START is to nurture the voices, hearts and minds of at-risk New York City youth, providing the resources and outlet for them to change their own lives through the creative process. We bring our nightly and weekly workshops into homeless shelters, group homes and alternative to incarceration facilities throughout the city, where miracles take place, one stable and trusting step at a time.

The ART START intern will contribute to all major aspects of running a small non-profit organization. This internship is truly a learning opportunity for anyone interested in non-profit management, leadership roles, fundraising and administrative oversight. There is no coffee-fetching. Applicants should be self-starters, able to ask questions and follow-through on each project to completion and confident working independently with a collaborative-style management from supervisors.

In collaboration with ART START’s Executive Director, Assistant Director and Staff Programming Directors, interns’ duties will include:

• Scheduling development projects according to development plan
• Assisting with Program Evaluation on a weekly basis
• Assisting with human resource controls
• Assisting with program budgets and expense reporting
• Assistant teaching arts-based workshops
• Contributing to ART START’s online presence, to include writing for the blog, updating social media, and aggregating contacts for listserv.

HOURS: Approximately 10-15 per week, more available upon request.

SCHEDULE: Mandatory Tuesdays Noon-6pm, plus one additional daytime shift each week 12-5pm (flexible), and two additional evening shifts 6-8pm to attend ART START workshops (flexible).

LOCATION: ART START works from various locations to make our workshops most accessible to the at-risk youth that we serve. Workshops take place in Lower Manhattan and the Southeast Bronx. Administrative work on Tuesdays takes place at the ART START Office in the Lower East Side of Manhattan

COMPENSATION: This is an unpaid internship. Interns will receive course credit through their school and metro cards to travel to and from workshops throughout the week.

NOTES: ART START does not provide oversight or management that is clinical in nature. This internship is not suitable for art therapy or social work students.

Please submit resumes to hannah@art-start.org
ART START 721 E. 6th Street, Floor 1 Office, New York, NY 10009 T: 212.460.0019 www.art-start.org

Position #2 – Workshop and Programing Assistant Intern

ART START seeks undergraduate and graduate students in the education, non-profit management, arts, arts education and related fields to serve as a programming intern for the Fall of 2011 and/or the Spring of 2012.
The purpose of ART START is to nurture the voices, hearts and minds of at-risk New York City youth, providing the resources and outlet for them to change their own lives through the creative process. We bring our nightly and weekly workshops into homeless shelters, group homes and alternative to incarceration facilities throughout the city, where miracles take place, one stable and trusting step at a time.
The Programming Intern for ART START will take part in all Homeless Youth Outreach Programming at ART START, on-site, in partnering homeless shelters.
In collaboration with ART START staff teaching artists, interns’ duties will include:
- Project Planning
- Workshop Planning
- Supply organization and procurement
- Assistant teaching arts-based workshops
- Weekly workshop assessment
- Small, focused fundraising objectives for respective workshops
HOURS: Approximately 10-15 hours a week, more available upon request.
SCHEDULE: Monday – Thursday: 3:30-8:30pm
LOCATION: ART START works from various locations to make our workshops most accessible to the at-risk youth that we serve. Workshops take place in Lower Manhattan and the Southeast Bronx. Weekly staff meetings take place in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
COMPENSATION: This is an unpaid internship. Interns will receive course credit through their school.
NOTES: ART START does not provide oversight or management that is clinical in nature. This internship is not suitable for art therapy or social work students.

Please submit resume to hannah@art-start.org
ART START 721 E. 6th Street, Floor 1 Office, New York, NY 10009 T: 212.460.0019 www.art-start.org

We braided rope for the tail and glued last minute gems to the body as we put the final touches on our dragon. There was great debate about the nature of the dragon: was he/she good or bad? Was the dragon city or country dwelling? Did he/she breathe fire or save the neighborhood children? I began to realize how appropriate a metaphor this dragon was for the students with whom we work.

Devon returned to workshops after a long hiatus. He started out as an exceptional student and was always writing poems or raps. However, his behavior deteriorated, as he stayed longer in the shelter. He fought with other boys and never listened. Today he places a green piece of fabric over his face and says I want to make a mask. I tell him he is a superhero while he decrees that his name is The Green Bat. He can fly and walk through the walls. The other students quickly join in and we now have a band of superheroes ready to take over the world. As we finish his mask, I tell him that he must use his powers for good but Devon is less certain. He cannot seem to make up his mind if he wants to help or hurt people. At ten, he is deciding whether he wants to be a villain or a superhero.

“I was wasting my father time and I was hurting my mother earth. “ Miky Bless

We wander the streets of lower Manhattan looking for our photographer. The students of the One Mic program are about to be photographed for their upcoming EPs. Miky tells us how he evolved as an artist. He says the moment came when a teaching artist introduced him to underground Eminem and acid rap. He began to pry words open and their possibilities became endless. Miky found salvation in words and beats. Rap became outlet for him providing a way to deal with everything that goes on his life. He has a job and works to constantly better himself as an artist.

There are choices we make daily. Choices that we do not even know we make; choices that change lives and transform who we are and where we will go. Miky has been to jail but has a found a better way to live, a better way to get through the day. Devon may never find the same kind of clarity as Miky. He may never realize that he has other options. He is a kid living in a shelter, living in a world that will not let him speak or play. He is angry but doesn’t even realize why, and on most days, this anger consumes him. There is a dragon within him: a dragon that can destroy a city in a single breath or a dragon that can save someone’s life.
by: Nina Spierer, ART START volunteer, intern and Van Amson Fellowship