Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington was established in 1886 but evolved Arts as one of its core programs in 2007 by hiring an award winning composer as their first Artistic Director. Our Multidisciplinary Arts Learning Laboratories and residential camps quickly became an inner-city safe haven…. from showcasing participants in new Artworks and eco-musical world premieres at the Kennedy Center to the Smithsonian’s first commissioned operetta. We expanded its rubric to Interdisciplinary Arts by addressing American youth being globally behind in STEM education. The utility of Arts + STEM = STEAM became intricately woven into the fabric of the organization’s methodology. This is “best practices” in arts and innovation. BGCGW is one of the largest major metro affiliates of the leading non-profit out of school time provider in the US. Forbes selected Boys & Girls Clubs as its top “5 All Star Charities” in 2012.
Mission Statement
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington (BGCGW) was founded with a humanitarian mission of… “helping boys and girls of all backgrounds, especially those who need us most, build confidence, develop character and acquire the skills needed to become productive, civic-minded, responsible adults.”
Activities and Programs
The Boys & Girls Club’s Teen Arts Program (TAP) has hired 172 world-class Arts Ambassadors as arts educators to work alongside interns from the nation’s top arts institutions. Together they tackle the national disparities in underprivileged communities and have helped engineer the best arts practices for Boys & Girls Clubs of America nationwide. In 2009, TAP’s ambitious endeavor of piloting best practices in multidisciplinary arts education served as an incubator for TAP’s “Edutainment (now STEAM)” Arts Learning Laboratories including: 1. Just Beat It (Percussion, Logic/Pro-tools, Garage band and digital/beat programmed); 2. Strings & Things (Strings, Guitars, Bass, Anklung, Piano and Garage Band); 3. Blowing in the Wind (Woodwinds around the world & Harmonica and Garage Band); 4. Brass-Line (Brass and Garage Band); 5. Gotta’ Dance — From Beat Ya’ Feet to Ballet; 6. Act-Up Musical Theatre, Lights Up & Behind The Scenes Stagecraft; 7. Sing Out, Oh Opera and Rap Recitative; 8. Entrepreneurial Arts (integrating Utilitarian, Visual & Mural Arts & Crafts for purchase); 9. In The Mix (Art + STEM = STEAM); 10. Eye of the Camera (Photography, Animation & National Digital Arts Program) and 11. Reading To Win (Utilizing Musical Theatre and Opera to promote Reading Literacy).
Population
Our member profile is: Male = 57%, Female = 43%; ages 5 – 18 with the highest concentration ages 9 – 11; ethnicity: African American 70%, Caucasian 16%, Hispanic 7%, Asian 2%, Native American 1%, multi-racial 4%; family structure is: 68% qualify for free or reduced lunches at school, 62% are from single-parent homes. We impact underserved in a 72-mile radius from our Manassas Club to Germantown.
Reviews
We received a 2016 award for best practices in youth arts programs by the 2016 President’s Arts & Humanities Committee
– President’s Arts & Humanities Commission