(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses received the Coming Up Taller Award for its Art a la Carte program at a ceremony hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House yesterday. FDNH CEO, Mark Culliton and Art a la Carte student, Liana Rae Farmer, attended the White House ceremony as one of 15 youth arts and humanities programs from across the country to receive this prestigious honor.
Coming Up Taller is a national initiative that recognizes and supports outstanding out-ofschool and after-school arts and humanities programs for children, especially those with great potential, but limited outlets for creative expression. A project of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Coming Up Taller Awards honor programs that offer exceptional learning experiences in the arts and the humanities and that have a tangible effect on the lives of young people as evidenced through improved academic scores, enhanced life skills, and positive relationships with peers and adults.
Art a la Carte is a teen art program run by Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses that links area youth with Boston’s local cultural community through classes, internships, work experiences and field trips. Teens learn the creative process, develop portfolios for Advanced Placement credit and college applications, and gain practical skills in gallery exhibition and museum work. In addition to providing quality arts instruction, the program is designed to equip students with the skills they need to gain acceptance to, and succeed in, college. Classes are available year round for students between the ages of 11 – 18.
Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses’ CEO, Mark Culliton, says, «Federated is honored to be named a Coming Up Taller Award recipient this year, and is grateful to the President’s Committee for the Arts and the Humanities for recognizing the critical importance art can play in a child’s life. Art is a powerful mechanism to reach young adults and to engage them in their education. At Federated, our goal is to ensure that all Dorchester residents have to the skills and experience to become college-bound. With 95 percent of alumni advancing to college, Art a la Carte is a potent example of what Boston’s youth can achieve when they are given the tools they need to succeed.»
«This year’s Coming Up Taller Awardees exemplify how arts and humanities programs outside of the school setting can impact on the lives of our young people,» says Margo Lion, co-chairman, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. «By exciting imaginations and providing opportunities for self-expression through the disciplines of theater, dance, music and literature these exceptional projects offer their participants windows on possibility and a belief in a more positive future.»
The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities bridges the interests of federal agencies and the private sector, supports special projects that increase participation, and helps incorporate the humanities and the arts into White House objectives. The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Because democracy demands wisdom, the National Endowment for the Humanities serves and strengthens our Republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the
lessons of history to all Americans. The Institute of Museum and Library Services
