The African Arts Academy youth after-school and summer program is designed to help parents with children from ages five to seventeen participate in a fun activity with a lifetime skillset. This program aims to help the youth avoid hanging out on the street and stay away from drug use and gun violence. The goal is to occupy them with an enrichment program that will empower them and lift them up both academically and socially.
Additionally, we have our student exchange program, which offers scholarships and awards to qualified students to travel to Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. This will allow the student to participate in a specialized dance program with one of our affiliate dance companies based in the country.
The vision is to empower youth from historically marginalized San Francisco neighborhoods in the Bayview district, an African American arts and cultural district community, as well as any other youth from a different cultural background of the African diaspora, through art education. Our program is also open to anyone interested in learning African dance or drumming.