Provided by Art and Culture Center/Hollywood

Founded in 1975, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood is a thriving cultural institution in Broward County, providing diverse and comprehensive programming in the visual arts, theater, music and dance. Throughout the center’s more than 40-year history, their programming has evolved to include comprehensive education programs, partnerships with other South Florida cultural institutions, and a wide variety of special events.

Since 2003, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood has dramatically expanded their education initiatives to include both summer and year-round programming for children, teens, and adults. They also have a successful Distance Learning program, which has provided arts education broadcasts to nearly 14,000 Broward County students since its inception.

One of their programs for teens, Arts Aspire, is a three-tier pyramid of defined, hands-on activities that promote strong leadership as well as college and career readiness for students and young adults ages 14-21. The program grew out of the Center’s thriving summer performing arts camps. It became evident to the education staff that as the campers were growing older, they were becoming interested not only in performing but in everything that was happening behind the scenes to support the productions. As a result, several interested students were invited to participate in an informal apprenticeship with the camps, exploring set design, lighting, and sound engineering, as well as leadership and business skills.

The opportunity to explore multiple facets of production was extremely popular with the students, and as a result, the apprenticeships were formalized into an application-based ‘Ambassador’ Program. A year-round version of the program was added soon after and then expanded last year to include a more comprehensive experience at multiple levels. The program now offers three tiers of participation, for different age ranges:

• Teen Arts Ambassadors (ages 14-18), which offers leadership and professional training through monthly meetings and workshops, participation in a community-based outreach project, and work-place experiences and community service hours at the Center
• Arts Associates (ages 17-18), which offers project-based training through shadowing, observing, and hands-on experiences in marketing, events, and education initiatives at the Center
• Arts Apprentices (ages 18-21), which offers an internship-based training program in the areas of education, marketing, grant development, curriculum development, multimedia design, and events at the Center

Students participating at all levels not only gain valuable work experience, but receive hands-on training in 21^st-century leadership skills that are transferrable to any occupation. Arts Associates and Arts Apprentices are even paid for their work, providing many students with their very first formalized work experiences in an environment in which they are already comfortable. The Center selects up to 5 students each year as Arts Apprentices, 3-5 Associates, and around 20 Arts Ambassadors, with most spots available during the summer months. Many past participants have gone on to work in similar fields at other organizations or in college.

To learn more about Art and Culture Center/Hollywood and Arts Aspire, visit their website at: https://artandculturecenter.org/.

Interested in seeing your organization featured on Culture Builds Florida? Please fill out this form: https://goo.gl/forms/3sMwuJWA3bM1orPl2.