Partnering with New York City

#BringArtBack for a Renaissance in Public Education

Murals, Music, and Media at 31 Schools

Visionary City Council Members

Since 2014, fourteen NYC Council Members have brought Thrive Collective’s Murals, Music, and Media programs to thirty-eight schools and community spaces in all five boroughs. To date, the Council has directly invested in students completing 46 school and community murals, 45 student films, 7 film festivals, 10 concerts and recitals, more than 60 ribbon cutting events and school assemblies, and the Queens HeART Beat Festival since 2018.

We have leveraged the Council’s investments to now work with 120 partner organizations providing services in more than 150 schools and community centers across 33 City Council Districts. Multiple city and state agencies also contract us as a vendor directly. Our project-based collaborative learning experiences reset the bar of possibility for all who participate.

Together, these visionary colleagues are helping Bring Art Back for a renaissance in public education and placemaking citywide.

“This mural will stand as a reminder of what’s possible!”

Public Officials Endorse Thrive

“Why do we tolerate a world where children born with God’s genius are going to schools that are not nurturing that genius and manifesting the divine within them? You’ve answered a call to do more, to act more.”

Hon. Cory Booker, US Senator (D-NJ)

“By uniting students, parents, artists, and community stakeholders through arts education and mentoring programs in low income neighborhoods, Thrive Collective is empowering the next generation to rise and fostering a more equitable tomorrow. I commend its efforts as my administration works to provide all New Yorkers with opportunities to participate fully in the cultural life of our city.”

Hon. Bill de Blasio, Mayor, City of New York

“These students instill life and vitality into our neighborhood every single day. This mural will stand as a reminder of what is possible when communities and schools come together with students for sustainable change. I am proud to support projects that nurture a vision of community engagement at this age, and propel children into lifetimes of service and leadership.”

Vincent Gentile, NY City Council Member (D-BK)

“This mural reflects the resilience and the energy and the willingness of the people on Coney Island to get back up … after being knocked down to the ground.”

Hakeem Jefferies, US House of Representatives (D-NY)

“School Murals provides children an interactive way of learning, not just the academics, but how to work together, to acquire social skills, to be able to strategize. It’s very important to have groups like Thrive Collective partner with schools, because the Board of Education cannot do it alone.”

Fernando Cabrera, NY City Council Member (D-BX)

Greater Collaboration with the City and State

The Horizon

Chancellor Farina celebrates a mural installation.

Explaining how 300 K-2nd grade students make a mural.

Since 2014, we have welcomed the accelerating support of public officials such as the Mayor and Comptroller, along with City and State agencies including the NYC Departments of Education, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Community Development, and Probation; NYC Service; Thrive NYC; Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance; and the NYS Department of Education.

Creating Beauty that Lasts, Together

Many Paths to Collaboration

City Council Members have allocated discretionary and initiative funding including Cultural After School Adventures (CASA), Immigrants Cultural Fund, Art as Catalyst for Change, and Digital Inclusion to bring Thrive Collective’s visual and performing arts programs to their districts. Multiple city and state agencies also contract us as a vendor directly.

Manhattan

Rosie Mendez, District 2

PS/MS 34 (FY16)
PS/MS 34 (FY17)

Bronx

Andrew Cohen, District 11

MS/HS 141 (FY18)

Fernando Cabrera, District 14

PS 170 (FY14)
I.S. 117 (FY15)
I.S. 117 & The Young Women’s Leadership School (FY16)
PS 236 (FY16)
I.S. 117 (FY17)
PS 310 (FY17)
The Walton Campus (FY18)

Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, District 17

Bronx Studio School for Writers & Artists (FY15)
PS 333 & PS 335 (FY16)

Brooklyn

Antonio Reynoso, District 34

Grand Street Campus: Progress High School; High School of Enterprise Business & Technology; & Legal Studies High School (FY17)

Erik Martin Dilan, District 37

Progress High School (FY14)

Brad Lander, District 39

PS/MS 282 (FY17)
PS/MS 282 (FY18)

Vincent Gentile, District 43

McKinley Junior High School (FY14)
PS 102 (FY15)
PS/MS 104 (FY16)
PS 127 (FY16)
Fort Hamilton High School (FY17)
High School of Telecommunications, Arts & Technology (FY17)
High School of Telecommunications, Arts & Technology (FY18)
PS 185 (FY18)

Darlene Mealy, District 41

PS 327 (FY18)

Queens

Donovan Richards, District 31

Springfield Gardens Campus: Preparatory Academy for Writers; Excelsior Preparatory Academy; George Washington Carver High School for the Sciences; and Queens Preparatory Academy (FY15)
PS/MS 42Q (FY16)
PS/MS 183Q (FY16)
PS/MS 42Q (FY17)
PS/MS 183Q (FY17)
PS/MS 42Q (FY18)
PS/MS 183Q (FY18)

Fiscal Years 2014-2016

Return on Investment

Our project-based, collaborative learning experiences reset the bar of possibility for all who participate. In 2017, Thrive Collective’s core programs worked with 2,800 students in 23 schools, producing fifteen school murals totaling 7,000 square feet, three music recitals, forty student films, three film festivals, a South Bronx Arts festival, and a citywide Art Exhibit at the United Federation of Teachers; and 100% of graduating seniors from our School Mentors programs were accepted into college.

Click the images below to enjoy portfolios of the twenty-four murals students completed with Council support since FY14. Watch fifty student films from six schools produced since FY16 here.