We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/ScriptPlaybook Slug: TV Sitar Arts Center Gunawan
Headline: Arts Center Helps Washington DC Children Reach Their Dreams
Teaser: Eighty percent of its students come from households that make less than 60 percent of the median income.
Published at: 3/4/2022 at 9:20am
Byline: Virginia Gunawan
Contributor:
Dateline: Washington
Videographer: Laurentius Wahyudi
Producer:
Script editors: KE(1st), MAS
Video source(s): VOA
Platform(s): Web___ TV_x__ Radio_x__
TRT: 3:27
Vid approved by: KE
Type: TVPKG
((INTRO))
[[The arts may be a luxury many children of underprivileged families can’t afford, but at Sitar Arts Center in Washington, D.C., it’s available to all who want to participate. VOA’s Virginia Gunawan reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
Each of these children grab their brush, choose their own colors, and work together to create a massive painting together.
This painting class is among the activities at Sitar Arts Center in Washington, D.C.
Children aged three to young adolescents participate in arts classes from musical instrument classes, dance, to digital arts.
((Loretta Thompson, Sitar Arts Center Chief Programs Officer))
“I've seen young people come in who have never taken an art class and gotten to take visual art of painting and dance and theater and really getting to experience the whole gamut to students who know that they love to draw and really getting to get really in-depth into visual art and then go these students different students going off and studying in the arts or really be able to use the experience to learn how to communicate better”
((NARRATOR))
Founded in 2000 by Rhonda Buckley, Sitar Arts Center was named after Buckley’s mentor, Patricia Sitar, a socially engaged creative spirit who since the 1970’s has worked to use art to better the lives of others in the city.
Situated in the affluent Adams Morgan area of Washington, D.C., some eighty percent of students at Sitar Center come from households that make less than 60 percent of the median income.
((Loretta Thompson, Sitar Arts Center Chief Programs Officer))
“We have a sliding scale so that based on the family's household size and their income level, the tuition rate is different. We also don't turn a family away if they cannot pay. So, we have other things in place, something like community service so that they can have other ways of paying.”
((NARRATOR))
(Still image courtesy: Sitar Arts Center)
Sisters Laura and Lorena have been trying out several programs at the center.
((Lorena Vazques Mejia, Student at Sitar Arts Center))
(Still image courtesy: Sitar Arts Center)
“I feel like physical acting helped me a lot because like since we're acting, we had to be very clear with their voice. Is we can't like mumble down like that, so this actually really helped me with my social skills at school. I was actually better at presenting my presentations at school.”
((Laura Vazques Mejia, Student at Sitar Arts Center))
“For me what helped me the most is SEALS, we get to communicate like know what's important out in the world and in class that help me. Like I got to start talking more to people. I got communication that felt like a leader.”
((NARRATOR))
SEALS is a leadership program at Sitar Arts Center to build teenagers’ confidence.
Their mother Norma can see the difference in the daughters, after taking part in SEALS.
((Norma A. Mejia, Students’ Mother))
“Now she’s taking ballet and like ballet because it lets her have discipline. They have to practice; they have to fill up a paper and I have to sign that paper like they really are doing her job. It’s make them more responsible.”
((NARRATOR))
During the pandemic, Sitar Arts Center had to drastically reduce in-person programs. But that does not stop them from creating new and fun online classes.
((Naomi Cohen, Sitar Arts Center Youth Program Manager))
“So, we have a class called Creative Baking, which is for older students and then we have a class called Family Food Crafts which is one that families do take out there with their students.”.
((NARRATOR))
After more than 20 years operating, Sitar Arts Center continues its mission, to provide sustainable programs to its students.
((Virginia Gunawan, VOA NEWS, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)WASHINGTON
Embargo DateMarch 4, 2022 09:28 EST
BylineVirginia Gunawan
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
