Art as Catalyst for Change

NYC Council Feels the HeART Beat

Five hundred middle school students painted murals, designed video games, break danced, freestyle rapped, competed at tug-o-war and so much more at the HeART Beat Festival on May 30, 2018. Thrive Collective collaborated with Museum of the Moving Image, Black Spectrum Theatre, and Everybody Dance Now to produce the festival as the Queens culminating event…

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Kids laughing

NYCulture 2018

Thrive Collective proudly partnered with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs for the third consecutive year this spring. (Read our Year 1 report here; Year 2 here.) Thanks to the ongoing support of NYC Council Members Vincent Gentile, Fernando Cabrera, Donovan Richards, and Andrew Cohen, in 2018 DCA directly invested in our work at eight schools through the…

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use paint not guns spray painting

HeART Beat Photo Diary

– Photos and commentary by Thrive Intern Chandler Simpson (UNC Chapel Hill) The 2018 Queens HeART Beat Festival was a carefully ordered sequence of frenetic rhythms set by DJ Tony Tone’s spinning onstage. The controlled chaos unleashed a torrent of energy constantly harnessed through the many creative outlets around the park, from visual arts to…

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Malala, Martin, Malcolm, Medgar & Lincoln

How do you organize 480 middle school students at the three-hour HeART Beat Festival / field day for the NYC Council Art as Catalyst for Change anti-gun violence initiative? Arrange 14 activity centers in five color coded zones named for community leaders impacted by gun violence: Malala Yousafzai, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar…

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heART beat festival poster

Volunteer: Queens HeART Beat Festival

Up to six hundred students from six Queens middle schools will converge at Roy Wilkins Park for the 2018 Queens HeART Beat Festival on May 30 from 10am – 1pm. Join us to provide an interactive, arts-based field day experience celebrating the completion of the Art as Catalyst for Change anti-gun violence initiative. Sponsored by the NYC…

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Partnering with NYC Cultural Affairs, Year 2

At Thrive Collective, we love stories that demand sequels. After proudly introducing the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs as a new partner last year, this year we saw an expansion of that relationship. Our principal champions remain NY City Council Members Vincent Gentile, Fernando Cabrera, and Donovan Richards, along with Antonio Reynoso who joined them…

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Cultural Affairs Agency Invests in Art Education

Thrive Collective proudly welcomed the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) as a partner this year thanks to the advocacy of NY City Council Members Vincent Gentile, Fernando Cabrera, and Donovan Richards. Through DCA initiatives including the Immigrants Cultural Fund, the Art as Catalyst for Change Anti-Gun Violence program, and Cultural After School Adventures (CASA), DCA…

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