Part of West Side Initiative
'Building a bridge' is the way Imagine Syracuse's Executive Director describes her mission to the underserved children of Syracuse's Near West Side. Jessie Keating says her group is building a bridge to bring art, music and culture to children who are below poverty levels. Among the free activities offered, after school music, in collaboration with the Syracuse Symphony; weekly educational field trips to 'culture' institutions in Syracuse; art teaching through digital photography and film making; dance classes in hip hop, Zumba, ballroom and African dancing.
Even though the children attend for free, the programs are underwritten with grants and support from several engineering-oriented companies, and Keating says another big fundraiser coming up is this Friday's benefit night with the Syracuse Crunch.
The program's long-term goal, says Keating, is to create future audiences by showing young people now, that there's a lot to see and do here. See more about Imagine Syracuse.
