Oak Park, MI (March 2024)—“Mr. Justin! Mr. Justin! Mr. Justin!” An all-out chant echoed like a chorus through the Oak Park elementary school hallway, greeting the surprised InsideOut Writer-in-Residence, Justin Grappuso-Cook, as he entered the classroom. On this day, Mr. Grappuso-Cook would lead the students in one of his inspired writing exercises, awakening young minds to the wonders of words. Students were so excited; they couldn't contain themselves.

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Detroit, MI (January 2023)—Think back to your best day ever as a kid. Did it involve walking like your favorite animal through the halls of the most amazing art museum in your city? Did it including viewing colorful mosaics from Mesopotamia and then creating one of your own with funky wooden pieces and colorful foam shapes? Those are just a few of the memorable activities underserved preschool children get to experience as part of the DIA Kids program.

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Detroit, MI (February, 2021) - The Detroit Children’s Choir utilizes the power of choral music education to foster musical excellence and build an inclusive community of creative, confident, and focused youth and teens. The organization provides programs on-site at schools and community hubs, reaching the city’s most isolated and vulnerable student populations where transportation is a challenge.

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Detroit, MI (September, 2020) After-school art programs matter — especially in Detroit, where only one of every two students receives arts or music education. In areas like Southwest Detroit, where students are vulnerable to high poverty and drop-out rates, there is both a greater need and a greater gap in opportunity. Research shows that a quality arts education has the potential to tremendously impact children who are vulnerable to these challenges.

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Detroit’s inner-city youth often lack access to the outlets for creativity and self-expression that are available to their peers in the suburbs. When these teens enter high school and college, they start with a social and cultural disadvantage compared with teens from more affluent families. Detroit Public Schools and Pewabic Pottery are working to address this inequity.

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In an effort to connect with young audiences and celebrate arts and culture, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) hosts over 75,000 school-age children through programming each year. Families with young children are one of the museum’s target audiences, particularly those from traditionally underserved communities. However, throughout the DIA’s history, it has not launched an initiative with a specific focus on pre-school age children and their parents or guardians.