ArtsPartners is a groundbreaking collaboration between Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA), Jefferson Parish Public School System (JPPSS), and ReNEW Charter Management Organization (ReNEW CMO.) ArtsPartners connects the students of the Greater New Orleans area with community-based arts and cultural institutions. The Jefferson Performing Arts Society was chosen to be an inaugural ArtsPartner. JPAS has been collaborating with YALA to conduct three residencies at Catherine Strehle Elementary School. The residencies, Who will I Become: Cultural Past, Personal Future, led by JPAS Artist Educator Nanette Ledet, have been assisting 75 third grade students as they develop music skills, increase literacy skills and discover how Africans have contributed to New Orleans. By exploring the enforced migration of Africans to New Orleans, students have learned how African cultures have transferred to our own modern culture, and how these cultures have influenced New Orleans music. Additionally students have explored their own personal details of future aspirations for education, work, and habitation, using stories from their own lives to create songs and essays that they will perform during school-wide presentations. Our inaugural round of Arts Partners residencies is nearly complete, and so far the student work has been outstanding. Young Audiences has received positive feedback from teachers and administrators, and many expressed interest in hosting future residencies.
