For families ages 1-15 years old to promote cultural inclusion

CMA partners with cultural organizations to provide monthly performances and art workshops to celebrate the cultural diversity of families in NYC.

CMA’s Cultural Festivals are a monthly series features 10 ethnic or cultural communities in NYC per year that is free with general admission. Free admission is shared with cultural partners.

Collaborations with community-based organizations and educators helped CMA network with special guest artists in genres that are typically not featured at CMA – such as dance, music, theatre, and puppetry – and promote the events to new audiences. CMA Teaching Artists program 2 Fine Arts and 3 Media Lab workshops based on traditional and contemporary arts inspired by the celebrated culture. The festivals were among the most popular visitation days at CMA, serving a total of 8,510 people in FY17.

Through the project, CMA achieved its goals to: provide guest artists with a venue to perform, showcase various ethnic cultural traditions representing diverse families in NYC, and foster increased awareness of the benefits of arts education among new audiences. Evaluative surveys indicated that 91% of respondents learned something new about art projects and ways to incorporate art-making time at home, and 93% said that their experience inspired them to seek out additional cultural programming in New York City.

Partnerships: If you are interested in becoming a partner or sponsor of a Cultural Festival program, contact Kirsten at kmcnally@cmany.org

TESTIMONIALS

“My favorite thing about today was exposing my daughter to different cultures, dance, and ways of expressing herself.”
– PARENT

“Today we learned about the prominent role of dance in Asian culture and how dance and rhythm relates to math – we had no idea!”
–PARENT

“Today we loved being able to participate actively, and to share with my children the magic of living in NYC.”
– PARENT