MAYWOOD FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION
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Mission Statement
The mission of Maywood Fine Arts (MFA) is to provide affordable quality arts and fitness education to enrich and transform the lives of children and families in Maywood and surrounding communities.
About This Cause
History: Located west of Chicago, in one of Illinois’ highest crime districts, Maywood Fine Arts was established in 1996 by concerned parents and community leaders to help combat escalating rates of drug activity, gang involvement, and teen pregnancies by providing enriching alternative activities in the community. From the beginning, a key commitment for MFA founders was to create an arts center in the heart of the community that would serve as a safe place for children to attend classes and engage in healthy activities. Through grass-roots efforts, MFA transformed a previously boarded-up bank building into a vibrant center of arts activity in downtown Maywood. After nearly three decades, MFA continues to improve its surroundings with a state-of-the-art Dance and Fitness Studio as well as a historic Fine Arts building that provide safe, welcoming spaces for children and bring pride of place to Maywood. Demographics: A low-income, working class community, Maywood has a 12 percent unemployment rate with 21 percent of its residents at the poverty level. In addition, 34 percent of the village’s households have a single, female head-of-household and 70 percent of births are to unmarried women. The Maywood School District as a whole is not meeting the State Board of Education’s Adequate Yearly Progress standard and continues to rank on the academic watch list. With the schools focused on basic academics for children, many parents turn to Maywood Fine Arts to provide enrichment in other areas. Key Programs and Activities: Annually, MFA serves more than 4,000 children ranging in age from 4 -18 years including 700 enrolled, non-duplicated students and 3,500 children who participate in outreach activities. Demographics of MFA students include 67 percent African American, 27 percent Latino, and 6 percent Caucasian and Asian. With a faculty of 28 teachers, Maywood Fine Arts offers group classes in dance, visual arts, and drama, as well as individual lessons in piano, voice, guitar, and drums. To build students’ strength and agility, MFA also conducts classes in tumbling and karate. In addition to arts education classes, MFA’s Fit and Fun program incorporates fitness and nutrition education into all activities to help children develop healthy lifestyles and prevent obesity and other health problems that stem from poor nutrition in this community. To help compensate for limited arts education in Maywood schools , MFA’s School Arts Outreach programs include: Get Off the Streets and On Your Feet, a youth leadership and job readiness program for area teens and pre-teens; and Classical Ballet for New Audiences that builds a classical dance repertoire for dance students and provides the community with opportunities to become familiar with and appreciate prominent classical ballets. Community Recognition and Support: Maywood Fine Arts is committed to never turning a child away because of a family’s inability to pay for tuition or supplies. Our scholarships and subsidies for low-income students increases every year, and funds are needed to ensure that all children have the same opportunity for enrichment through Maywood classes. With a dedicated board of directors, MFA has sustained its growth while focusing on key priorities to maintain a safe and enriching environment in the arts for young people in this high-risk community.