Situation Project Partners With Casita Maria To Bring The Arts Virtually To New York City Public School Students

On Tuesday, October 19th, Situation Project is partnering with Casita Maria: Center for Arts & Education to provide a virtual artistic experience for over 800 New York City public middle school students.

Situation Project's three partner schools (M.S. 343, M.S.H.S. 223, and P.S.M.S. 278) will be introduced to the art of storytelling through musical poetry by Baba Israel, beatboxer of Casita Maria's BronX BandA latin jazz ensemble, and comic book imagery by graphic novelist, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, Creative Director and owner of Brooklyn-based production and creative services studio, Somos Arte.

Through a Zoom webinar, students will be virtually introduced to these artists' latest collaborative work: creating a BronX BandA coloring book. The middle schoolers will get a live performance of the poetry that inspired the coloring book and a first look at the comic book imagery. In addition, they will receive a lesson on the history of freestyle and spoken word poetry that inspired this artistic partnership, as well as a beatboxing tutorial. Lastly, students will have the opportunity to ask the artists questions directly to learn more about their process, influences, and the industry.

For the past decade, Situation Project has been on a mission to inspire action for access to arts and culture experiences in underserved communities. Partnering with organizations like Casita Maria, they create opportunities to inject arts into students' lives. "These experiences are not just entertainment for these students," says Nicole DaCosta, Communications & Program Manager for Situation Project. "Through these partnerships, students are encouraged to see art as an avenue for expression and to explore different perspectives, cultures, and creative professions that they may have never considered previously."

With funding for arts education decreasing yearly, these organizations see the many benefits of an arts-rich education. Locally, in New York City, the 2021 arts education services for middle and high schools were cut by 70% ($15M from the $21.5M budget). With programs like Situation Project and Casita Maria, local students can continue to access arts and cultural experiences, helping to close the opportunity gap between these arts-deficient schools and their more affluent peers.