Our mission at the Tisch School of the Arts Office of Community Connections (OCC) is to create, support, and expand initiatives that engage our students in community-based arts projects. Already, these include the facilitation of neighborhood workshops, the co-creation of productions, the presentation of speakers, and training opportunities. We believe that students do not become artists strictly within the four walls of a studio, but are expanded through real-world exchange with a range of people. We believe that such exchanges are equally beneficial to the diverse people with whom we create work.
One of our main tasks is connecting young artists to community organizations within which they co-facilitate arts workshops. A list of organizations with which we are associated can be found by clicking on INTERNSHIPS. Once at a site, we support workshop efforts through dialogue with our staff as well as through our listing of WORKSHOP EXERCISES. We also regularly feature a number of ongoing SPECIAL PROJECTS with which students can become involved. To see how we interface with Tisch departments through courses and special initiatives, click on INTERDEPARTMENTAL LINKS.
The OCC was founded by Jan Cohen-Cruz, Department of Drama; Lorie Novak, Department of Photography and Imaging; and Tisch students Jessica Ingram, Michaela Leslie-Ruhl, Andrea Maddox, and Rayne Roberts. It is co-administered by the Tisch Scholars Program and staffed by Tisch Scholar students.
Thanks to the Howard Gilman Foundation, Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Nathan Cummings Foundation for their support.
