POWER Youth Summer Employment Program ​

​POWER Youth is a youth employment initiative of the Metropolitan Action Commission (MAC), a division of the Mayor’s Office. As part of its mission to strengthen the creative workforce and deepen artistic participation in Nashville, Metro Arts partners with MAC to provide project-based work experiences in the arts through the POWER Youth Summer Employment Program for young people ages 14-15 during the summer. For summer 2022, Metro Arts facilitate experienced work projects with with 8 partner organizations:

 

• Edgehill Neighborhood Partnership, Arts Discovery Program

• From the Heart International Education Foundation, Music in the Making: Code, Create and Perform

• Global Education Center, We Are All Related - A Musical Theater Creation

• King's Daughters Child Development Center, KDCDC Arts Enrichment Program

• Moves and Grooves, Inc., ARTrepreneuer Project 

• Notes for Notes, Inc., Into the Mix: Journey of a Song

• Prado Studio, Creative Placemaking Apprenticeship & Mosaic Mural Creation

• Southern Word, Creating Cultural Centers Through Words and Music

• Turnip Green Creative Reuse, TGCR Sustainability & Arts Youth Program

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2022 POWER Youth Partner Funding Guidelines

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For questions about POWER Youth, please contact Equity and Restorative Practices Specialist Marysa LaRowe.

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Arts Programming for Court-Involved Youth 

(formerly Restorative Arts)

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Arts Programming for Court-Involved Youth is a collaboration between Metro Arts, the Metro Nashville Davidson County Juvenile Court (JJC), and their Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) contracted provider to create an arts-integrated intervention system for court-involved youth that focuses on resiliency, positive youth development, and restoring empowered youth and families.

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Under the leadership of Judge Sheila Calloway, JJC officials support court-involved youth to heal, grow and thrive by assessing each individual’s skills and needs and connecting them and their families to resources aimed at health and well-being. As there is growing evidence that long term, sustained arts learning and arts experiences have deep and lasting positive impact on children’s cognitive development, through this partnership, we are helping to facilitate artists to create programming inclusive of children and youth who have been involved with the justice system. Through these arts interactions, youth develop a growing capacity for emotional attachment, empathy, reasoning, decision-making, trust, self-identity, and self and community esteem.

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Through quality programming that is trauma-informed and anchored in positive youth development practices, the program positions the arts as a part of restorative practice and creates a protective environment for court-involved youth to heal, grow and thrive. Introducing them to a wide variety of art forms (drumming, dance, theater, spoken word, visual art, etc.) not only unlocks their potential by teaching skills in perseverance, self-expression, empathy, community building, but also empowers the youth to make more positive choices.

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Please note: FY23 is a reverification year for current arts programming providers. 

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FY23 Guidelines: Arts Programming for Court-Involved Youth

FY23 Reverification Application: Arts Programming for Court-Involved Youth

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Contact Equity and Restorative Practices Specialist Marysa LaRowe with questions about Arts Programming for Court-Involved Youth.