Community Joy through Music and Art

Social support networks

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

A Harvard study found that 61% of Americans between 18-25 reported feeling lonely (2023). Socioemotional challenges, compounded by historical inequities in income, education, and healthcare, disproportionately affect people of color in LA. At Kid City, we have witnessed teens struggle with social skills, learning loss, and grief. Music, however, creates a sense of belonging. Access to art and music is important to people’s social connection and mental well-being. However, a study by Kid City teens found that nearly 43% of responders stated they forgo art and leisure to prioritize rent and basic needs. A separate Kid City survey of teens in mixed immigration status families found that a majority of responders do not seek mental health services because it continues to be stigmatized in the family unit. Teens also shared that they often provide emotional support for their families because their parents do not want to or do not know how to navigate mental health issues.

Music, song, and dance are powerful antidotes to loneliness. Greater Good Magazine calls singing a “powerful social glue” and explains that performing and even listening to music together creates closeness by releasing endorphins. Kid City youth create community joy year round and learn to find their voice, make friends, build confidence, and just have fun. In the fall, music students make friends, jam together, and form bands. By the spring, they offer live music at small gatherings, and prepare for larger summer audiences. Further, thanks to the music program, youth across Kid City programs appreciate music and the arts and are open to learning and connecting with people. The Community Joy Initiative builds on its success with an inaugural artist residency. For spring semester, the artist will use a participatory process to connect with youth through music, singing, and dance. As a form of public art, participatory art engages audiences and artists alike, and draws inspiration from their cultures and experiences. In partnership with the music program and students, the resident artist will demonstrate and explore practices that resonate with Kid City youth and young adults. In the summer, five teens will be elevated to Community Joy Interns to facilitate social connection and participatory art at Splash of LA, Kid City’s summer festival. Interns will learn how to welcome and engage an intergenerational audience in a public participatory art production.

Kid City’s music program is successful in fostering a sense of belonging and ownership of space among teens from low-income, mixed-status families. The Community Joy Initiative is an opportunity to position youth as creators of an inclusive, radically welcoming social fabric in Los Angeles. As teens emerged awkwardly from pandemic isolation, music lessons and jams broke the ice and made Kid City, once again, a place of belonging. When our annual Splash of LA festival returned in 2022, 250+ people showed up. In 2023, attendance doubled. Looking forward to Splash 2024, excitement is high due to shared desire to belong. The Initiative seeks to expand opportunities for non-student arts engagement. Kid City is a trusted partner and resource for teens and families. Teens and their families are unafraid to seek Kid City resources when in need. Participatory art will spark teens’ creativity and help them build and maintain connections with their own communities through art interaction.

Kid CIty’s music program has been widely successful in building connections, reducing social isolation, and improving musical skill, especially since 2022. This year, 110 teens have participated in music this year, and 22 have performed. In a recent assessment, 81% shared they learned how to brighten up a room and energize their peers, and 88% shared they learned to build community by making others feel at home. Kid City’s primary value is radical welcome. During and after college, alumni have taken the value of radical welcome with them to their professions in education, healthcare, and policy, and return as mentors and project lead. Success of the inaugural artist-in-residence will be assessed by youth participant’s understanding of participatory art and placemaking for South and Central LA community members. We would like it to be a permanent position! This inaugural year will be incontrovertible evidence to Kid City funders that an artist in residence is a worthwhile investment.