Pratt Saturday Art School
Pratt Institute's Saturday Art School offers 6-18-year-olds the highest quality classes to explore artistic expression. Most students come from the local community, about 30% from low-income families receiving subsidies. When One Community inquired, Pratt found that only 4 were from the public housing just outside its door. One Community launched a
campaign to break down the economic and socio-cultural barriers that keep kids surrounded by poverty from walking through Pratt’s gates. First, we had trusted messengers present the opportunity face-to-face to parents and grandparents in public housing. Then we set up a mechanism for fees to be paid in cash and reduced the fee from $50 to $25 per semester. Finally, we made the trip to Pratt non-threatening and easy for parents by hiring chaperones to bring students in groups from each development and provided MetroCards to those traveling the farthest. Here is one result, from Carlos Peña Hernandez:
Here is an example of the schedule that students were able to participate in during one session.