January Basket 2023

What young people do with their free time matters, and afterschool music programs play a big role in supporting their wellbeing and success. Happily, a new grant program aims to keep these programs thriving.

Readers interested in the special power of work in refugee and asylum centers will be inspired by a short film just released by the Netherlands-based organization Sounds of Change, which trains changemakers to effect social change through music.

The National Endowment for the Arts, the biggest funder of arts programs in the U.S., has launched a new cycle of its Grants for Arts Projects.

Research tells us that refugees are especially at risk of developing mental illness. Fortunately, evidence also shows that singing can help counteract those risks.

Want to see Creative Youth Development (CYD) in action? The Lewis Prize for Music, which supports youth-focused music organizations annually through their grants program, recently produced a short film to help increase public awareness and understanding of the CYD field.

The teaching artistry field has caught the attention of the King of England.

AdventHealth, one of the largest non-profit healthcare systems in the United States, has taken a unique approach to supporting its healthcare workers: an AdventHealth Orchestra for its employees.

The Australian Defence Force has created an arts program to support frontline workers, building confidence and resilience through music, visual arts, and creative writing.

We form strong bonds with the young people in our programs, sometimes in ways we don’t even realize. In light of that fact, we’re grateful for this personal essay by Jason Madison, a seventh-year member of Richmond, California’s RYSE Youth Center.

For all our focus on building mental health awareness into our curricula, organizational templates vary. If you’re thinking big about your own program, the Department of Sound, a Sacramento-based organization that trains youth in music production and podcasting, has created their own approach: a five-year plan called the Sound Mind Initiative.