Why 92NY?

Why 92NY?

We’ll give you 150 reasons.

For 150 years, 92NY has been a catalyst for the arts, nurturing and inspiring generations of students.

92NY’s arts education initiatives extend far beyond our doors. We believe that access to high-quality arts education is a right, not a privilege. For more than three decades, 92NY has been a key provider of the highest quality arts education to New York City’s public schools through 92NY School Engagement in the Arts (School Engagement).

In 1988, Maya Angelou met with a group of NYC public school students at 92NY before she gave a reading, thereby launching a literary program that now serves 1,000 students each year. Today, School Engagement transforms young lives through the arts by creating in-depth programs, performances and talks for thousands of K-12 students and their teachers in New York City public schools — and now nationwide through various online offerings.

Through sustained engagement with school communities, we connect students with celebrated artists and thought leaders from around the world via in-school residencies, in-person experiences at 92NY, and internship programs designed to help young people explore careers in the creative industries.

Past 92NY Participating Artists include:

Our Commitment to Diversity

School Engagement values, promotes, and exemplifies diversity and inclusion in order to enrich our understanding of each other and our world. We pursue these values in a variety of ways:

• Staff diversity: Teaching artists represent a wide range of diverse backgrounds and identities (gender, race, culture, language, immigration and economic background, among more), reflecting the identities of the children they teach in our public schools across the five boroughs.
• Building leadership: We nurture the talent of children and young adults at public schools across NYC, helping them grow as leaders both at 92NY and in the arts at large, and diversifying the representation of artists and arts administrators across community leadership.
• Global, multi-perspective: We share cultures from around the world through exceptional art and art-making practices.
• Integrated and interdisciplinary: Our original curricula across the performing, visual, and literary arts include points of entry for all learning styles, sensory needs, and perspectives, and often align seamlessly with other subjects of study.

Here is what teachers are saying about School Engagement