EXPRESSIONES CULTURAL CENTER INC
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Mission Statement
Expressiones is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the community with quality artistic programming. We celebrate diversity by inspiring the community to immerse themselves in the music, art, and customs of our multicultural population. Expressiones main program is ArtVenture, which provides culturally competency, relevant and unique experiences, bilingual arts and educational programming for children in New London Public Schools, and in after-school sessions in New London. This program serves to bridge cultural gaps between the diverse communities in the area and to provide arts and other educational programs for children in New London, including a large and growing population from low income families. The population served includes among all of them the underserved Latino or Hispanic children in New London. We use the Artists-in- Residence recruited by Expressiones from Latin-America and other professionals. Expressiones is committed to providing a safe environment which addresses the needs, expands the abilities, and encourages aspirations of the people of Southeastern Connecticut by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. The two primary goals are: (1) to increase the cultural competency and awareness of low- income children and families, including the growing Latino population, and (2) to introduce the non-Latino population to the richness of Latin American arts and culture. The overarching goal of our program is to support community engagement, providing an intensive, hands-on in art, science, history, geography, and math curriculum that emphasizes discovery, critical thinking and problem solving. The residency programs offer resources to artists and provide opportunities for our diverse community to strengthen their ability to pursue lifelong learning.
About This Cause
All Expressiones projects address diversity, equity, inclusion, language justice, systemic racism, and human rights. Having these in mind, we usually work with New London Public School to define the best project to merge the core curriculum with the current artist in residence's skills, art practice, and rich cultural background. The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing health crisis that is hitting hard organizations, families, and countries worldwide grappling with the well-being and livelihoods of respective communities. The economic challenges wrought by the pandemic continue to mount—and with them comes much uncertainty about the future. Expressiones is not an exception and has been hit particularly hard, with artists' absences, supply disruptions. We have witnessed how students' mental health and confidence deteriorate, and their confidence is taking a toll. We experienced changes in our program due to the COVID19. We tried new approaches in a spirit of reinvention: accelerating digital transformation, employing variable cost structures, and more agile operations. Right now, we are continually reviewing our goals and assumptions regarding the outreach of Expressiones in the community, aspiring to be ever more responsive to the needs and opportunities before us. We are working to bridge cultural gaps between the diverse communities in the area and provide arts and other educational programs for children in New London. Our budget's most significant changes were the item for art supplies and office supplies to prepare all the designed projects. The funding granted is used to pay for art materials used by the students and the salaries for the instructors. Thirteen percent of the funds are used for administrative charges. Once funding has been obtained, Expressiones purchases the necessary equipment (art supplies, easels, folding tables, and PCs). This equipment will be re-used in subsequent classes. The funding covers the art instructors, who will provide individual attention to each student. Additionally, snacks are provided for the children. Although Expressiones projects continue and will continue, our analysis suggests that despite economic headwinds, our mission’s delivery is expected to continue throughout 2022—three primary challenges have emerged: be extremely more creative, reshape our projects according to the current needs of the community that we served, and design a hybrid model to deliver the instruction and interact socially. 2019- 2021's school year was unique in all senses. Expressiones' program was able to bridge cultural gaps between the diverse communities in the area and provide critical contemporary art and historical examinations of subjects pertinent to our culturally diverse society and constituencies, including a large and growing population from low-income families. The area that we serve is constituted by students where 82% receive free/reduced lunch, 22% are English language learners (798 students as of 2019), 51.2% of New London public schools students are Hispanic; 82% of them are students of color, 18.1% African American, 17.9% white and 10.9% two or more races. 28.7% of the district's students come from homes where English is not the primary language. Responding to these needs, Expressiones responded to this diverse school community and reached its two primary goals: to increase the cultural competency and awareness of low-income children. Kids could be more familiar with art techniques and concepts, improve confidence in applying art techniques, and create new designs. They could handle their anxiety, improved self-esteem, enhanced behavioral attitude, and enhanced performance. One of the parents, Mr. Rodriguez, said in Spanish, translated by his son, "we cannot enjoy our lives and go outside anymore like before, but art helps us catch our personal history and heal in positive experiences to get through pain and sadness." This testimony is an enormous help to Expressiones to figure out what is needed to address shortly. There is a demand for grief-stricken students and families. New London's families are compelling us to create trauma-aware initiatives that put our art collections, artists in residence, and all the resources that we have at the forefront of a mental health crisis created by the pandemic and the worldwide protests of police brutality and racism.