Citywide Showcase on Today Celebrates Arts Projects By New York City Youth

Teens from across the city come together in Carnegie Hall's Resnick Education Wing on Thursday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. to tell their stories through music, visual art, film, photography, and dance as part of NeON Arts, a program of the NYC Department of Probation (DOP) in partnership with Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. Launched in spring 2014, NeON Arts integrates arts programming into sevenNeighborhood Opportunity Networks (NeONs) across New York City, helping young people develop creative, social, and emotional skills while building positive peer relationships and enriching their communities through art. This summer, six organizations were selected to lead programming from July-September 2016:

Bedford-Stuyvesant: Josephine Herrick Project
Brownsville: Brownsville Community Justice Center
East New York: The Animation Project
Harlem: Music Beyond Measure
Jamaica: Fame Airbrush
South Bronx: Sample U!
Staten Island: The Animation Project

The final event on September 15 is free and open to the public and will feature original music written and performed by participants alongside professional musicians, an animated short film, airbrush artwork, and a photography exhibition. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and performances begin at 6:30 p.m.RSVP to neonarts@carnegiehall.org.

About the Summer 2016 NeON Arts Projects:

The Animation Project (TAP) is an organization dedicated to using digital art technology as a therapeutic medium and a workforce development tool with at-risk youth. This summer, TAP is working with East New York and Staten Island NeON participants to create original computer animated videos using professional digital art computer programs.

The Brownsville Community Justice Center seeks to reengineer how the justice system works in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The Justice Center's Sounds oF Brownsville music program was recently given the opportunity to collaborate with the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice to create an anti-violence EP that offered youth perspective and input on reducing violence in the community.

Fame Airbrush, a local airbrush company, is introducing Jamaica NeON participants to the basics of airbrushing and painting this summer, teaching students how to customize t shirts, hats, headbands, and sneakers while spreading positive messages in the community.

The Josephine Herrick Project has been teaching photography to diverse communities in New York since 1941. This summer, Bedford-Stuyvesant students are taking part in a photography program called "Now You See Me: A Participant Reflection on Identity through Photography."

Music Beyond Measure (MBM) was founded in 2013 as a means of providing a creative response to trauma recovery. This summer, MBM teaching artists are working with NeON participants in Harlem to compose lyrics and music to their own songs as part of the "Sing Your Story" Project.

Sample U! is an interactive digital music and visual art program. This summer, NeON participants in the South Bronx are learning about music production and beatmaking using iPads and online media-making tools, using live sampling as the springboard for creative exploration and collaboration.