The Stella Adler Arts Justice Division (formerly known as the Outreach Division) serves hundreds of New Yorkers every year in free programs in dozens of locations across the five boroughs. But it all started 15 years ago with a small group of high school students in what was then a fledgling program: Adler Youth. The mandate of the Arts Justice Division is to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline; Adler Youth does its part by serving young people statistically most likely to be justice-involved or those who are impacted by poverty.
Since its inception in 2005, Arts Justice programs have reached over 5,000 people. Of those, Adler Youth has served nearly 500 teens in a free, two-year, after-school program. In addition several graduates have gone on to receive merit and need based scholarships to Conservatory programs.
The young people we’ve met in Adler Youth are nothing short of extraordinary. They have gone on to do amazing things, among them win scholarships to colleges like CUNY, SUNY, New York University, Georgetown and Juilliard; study and volunteer abroad; create, write, produce original work; start families; take a stand as activists and organizers and so much more.
Please join us in celebrating this important milestone! Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we share memories and voices from students and alumni.
Virtual Celebration: 15 Years of Arts Justice Looking Back and Looking Forward – October 22nd
Stella Adler Studio of Acting presents 15 Years of Arts Justice Looking Back and Looking Forward a virtual celebration highlighting the history of the Arts Justice Division (formerly called Outreach Division) at the Stella Adler Center.
Thursday, October 22 at 3:30pm EST on Zoom
With Sonia Sanchez (Board Member and Poet Laurete), Tom Oppenheim (Artistic Director), Kevin Bott (Director of Arts Justice), Nina Capelli (Director of Cultural Programming), Melissa Mickens (Director of Adler Youth), Suzy PetchEam (Director of Arts Justice Field Programs), Joanne Edelmann (Lead Teacher for women at Rikers Island), Alex Anderson (Director of Ritual 4 Return) Anette Burwell (Director of Social Work for Ritual 4 Return), Anita Dashiell-Sparks (Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), Fred Johnson (Resident Artist)
Email ryan@stellaadler.com for Zoom Link to this free event.