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 Cultural Immigrants Fund, Cultural After-School Adventures (CASA), and Art as Catalyst for Change Anti-Gun Violence initiatives. Those investments supported Murals and Media programs in Brooklyn, The Bronx, and the Rockaways, and a borough-wide arts festival for six Queens middle schools.
Read about each initiative below, but first, a virtual tour of the students’ completed work from the first three years of our partnership.
NYCulture Sponsored Murals
Bay Ridge: The Brooklyn Way
Art Direction by Kaves (2023) More DetailsRiis Houses Series: Live ARTfully
Intensive (Manhattan 2023) More DetailsRiis Houses Series: Hope and Opportunity
Intensive (Manhattan 2023) More DetailsPS 48: Imagination
School Mural (Staten Island 2023) More DetailsPS 9: Love for All
School Mural (Staten Island 2023) More DetailsPS 9: Love for All
Intensive (Staten Island 2023) More DetailsPS 139 Alexine A. Fenty: “We bring this world together!”
School Mural (Brooklyn 2023) More DetailsPS 89: Dreams of Queens
School Mural (Queens 2023) More DetailsPS 89: Our Dreams
School Mural (Queens 2023) More DetailsPS 9: Reading Rocks
Intensive (Staten Island 2023) More DetailsPS 18: The Magic Wall
School Mural (Brooklyn 2023) More DetailsPS 13 Roberto Clemente: Unplug & Live Life
Intensive (Brooklyn 2023) More DetailsFrederick Douglass Academy: Distant Galaxies
Intensive (Manhattan 2023) More DetailsLexington School for the Deaf: SOAR
School Mural (Queens 2023) More DetailsPS 33 Timothy Dwight: To Learn is to Grow
School Mural (Bronx 2023) More DetailsPS 354Q: A Brighter Southside
School Mural (Queens 2023) More DetailsIS 201: As I Learn and Grow (1 of 2)
School Mural (Brooklyn 2023) More DetailsIS 201: As I Learn and Grow (2 of 2)
School Mural (Brooklyn 2023) More DetailsPS/MS 183Q: I Dream Of Spaces for Us to Grow Together (5 of 5)
School Mural (Queens 2023) More DetailsPS/MS 183Q: I Dream Of Spaces for Us to Grow Together (4 of 5)
School Mural (Queens 2023) More DetailsNYCulture Sponsored Student Films
2018 Queens HeART Beat Festival
Students Dance, Paint and Rap at HeART Beat 2023
The Annual Queens Art a Catalyst for Change Culminating Event—the HeART Beat Festival—returns for the…
read moreVolunteer for HeART Beat Queens 2023
Three hundred students from six Queens middle schools will converge at Roy Wilkins Park for…
read moreA Brief History of Thrive Collective: Interactive Timeline
Check out our new interactive timeline! 2022 has been a record-breaking year. We completed our…
read more5th Annual Art a Catalyst For Change Queens Culminating Event
2022 HeART Beat Festival / The 5th Annual Art a Catalyst For Change Queens Culminating…
read moreHeART Beat 2022 Returns to Roy Wilkins Park
5th Annual 2022 Art a Catalyst For Change Queens Culminating Event On the morning of…
read moreVolunteer for HeART Beat Queens 2022
Four hundred students from six Queens middle schools will converge at Roy Wilkins Park for the…
read moreHeART Beat Online 2021
Stream Live 👆 Celebrate the achievements of Queens public school students who participated in Art…
read moreHeART Beat Online 2020
Watch HeART Beat Online 2021 here. Replay the Live Stream Enjoy the replay edited by…
read moreQueens HeART Beat 2019
Video produced by Tony Horn / BRIC Arts Media for NYC Council The 2nd Annual…
read moreHeART Beat Queens Photo Diary (2019)
Thank you NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, and Council Members Donovan…
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Art as Catalyst for Change (2018)
Borough-wide, Art as Catalyst for Change funding allowed us to:
- Produce the 2018 HeART Beat Festival as the Queens culminating event for initiative;
- Host 480 middle school students from five schools for a 3-hour field-day style arts festival arranged in fourteen activity centers.
- Enjoy the HeART Beat Photo Diary here.
At MS 42Q, Art as Catalyst for Change funding allowed us to:
- Provide 200 middle school students accredited, in-school Murals and Media classes for an entire semester;
- Provide 30 students and 40 volunteers after school and weekend Murals programs;
- Produce the 600 square-foot “Choose Kindness” mural, one year-end celebration, and three student films.
At MS 183Q, Art as Catalyst for Change funding allowed us to:
- Provide 180 middle school students accredited, in-school Murals classes for an entire semester;
- Produce four interior murals exploring the theme of “Your Best Self,” and one year-end celebration.
CASA - Cultural After School Adventures (2018)
With support from CASA, Thrive Collective provided a fifteen-week, multidisciplinary after school arts program on Mondays and Tuesdays from January 8 – May 1 at MS/HS 141 Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy. Students selected Murals (Mondays and Tuesdays) or Media (Tuesdays only) and worked collaboratively to produce a project related to the medium they learned.
The Murals students worked together to conceive, design, and produce the “One Tiger, Many Stripes” interior mural which was subsequently installed outside the school library; unveiled at a ceremony attended by Council Member Andrew Cohen on May 17th; and showcased at the school’s arts festival on May 21st. The Media students worked together to conceive, direct, film, and edit the “Let’s Prevent” documentary about bullying that debuted at a film festival at the school on May 5th.
Immigrants Cultural Fund (2018)
With support from the Cultural Immigrant Initiative, Thrive Collective provided visual arts classes for 430 students at five schools in Brooklyn and The Bronx, including:
- PS 185 Walter Kassenbrock (Brooklyn)
- High School of Telecommunications, Art, and Technology (Brooklyn)
- International School for Liberal Arts (ISLA) (Bronx, Walton Campus)
- Kingsbridge International School (Bronx, Walton Campus)
- Teaching Arts and Professions HS (Bronx, Walton Campus)
Each program explored the respective immigrant cultural diversity within each campus, and produced three public art murals totaling 2,200 square feet. Classes began in February, and empowered students, parents, volunteers, and faculty at each school to design and execute their respective murals from April – June.
The murals explored various themes related to the immigrant experience, including welcome, identity, cultural formation, and more. In each instance, the students considered their own personal experiences as immigrants or as neighbors welcoming new immigrants into the community, and designed their murals around the following themes:
- “Migration Remix” (HSTAT)
- “See Yourself in the Story” (PS 185)
- “The World We Make” (Walton Campus)
The programs included age-appropriate, in-school and out-of-school instruction that developed mural and life skills such as design, image transfer, color mixing, painting, communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, resilience, and leadership. Throughout the projects, school alumni and other students earned community service volunteers hours. We celebrated the student work at ribbon cutting celebration events on completion of the projects throughout the month of June.