A “Griot” is a storyteller from the West African tradition who uses music, poetry, and other art forms to pass down the culture and history of the area to the younger generations. Griot Arts empowers student and professional artists to be storytellers and culture makers, educating them about their history in order that they may collaboratively create a new, life-giving narrative of our community.
Since 2011, Griot Arts has been providing training in music, dance, theater, filmmaking, and visual arts through our multidisciplinary after school arts program. Most of our students enter the program as elementary or middle school students, going through our foundational arts classes and graduating to advanced classes as they enter high school.
Over the past ten years, Griot Arts has grown from 12 students to over 50 students attending arts classes 3 to 4 times a week and a creative employment program that employs young people in our coffee shop.
While many students attain a level of achievement and proficiency in an art discipline that opens new doors to higher education, others gain essential social-emotional skills—like confidence, self-expression, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership—that will serve them as they chart their futures. Griot also provides its students with academic assistance, a community of support from peers and mentors, and job-readiness skills to help them navigate their futures.
