The HeArt Project

Started in 1992 at one site with a budget of $2,000, HP now serves 650 students in 25 school sites throughout three school districts with an operating budget of $1.2M. Our long-term arts programs reach communities and students who otherwise lack access to the arts, proven to be one of the most effective ways to engage teenagers in their education and community. Our professional artists teach real-world skills needed in today’s creative economy, and impart a sense of confidence and purpose that leads to graduating from high school with a plan for the future. Highlights of our recent achievements include: Responding to an increasingly urgent need to address the high school dropout crisis, The HeArt Project partnered with the LA County Office of Education to open the Hollywood Media Arts Academy (HMAA), an alternative arts high school for students at high risk of dropping out. The Academy celebrated its 2nd anniversary in August 2012. An important measure of the success is how many students advance from Level 1 to Level 2 and participate and complete HP’s advanced levels. In the past two years, HP has had its largest cohorts ever participate in these advanced levels, and this year, for the first time, all Level 2 arts residency students applied for Level 3 summer arts scholarships. As students advance up HP’s program, they continue to realize more successes in the larger community. Since July 2012, HP students have: Enrolled in West LA College’s Communications, Entertainment, and Media Arts Division in a partnership program with Hollywood CPR, an entertainment industry training program. Performed at REDCAT with the CalArts CAP Program Attended Earthwatch Institute’s Los Angeles Student Fellowship Program on scholarship and studied the Diamondback Terrapin turtle in New Jersey. It was this teenager’s first time on an airplane. Our first student was accepted into the Ryman Arts Program, a rigorous and highly selective classical arts training program for teens. Been accepted into the Mark Taper Forum’s Young Ambassadors program Scholarships have traditionally taken place in the summers, but this past fall, HP has an unprecedented 8 students participating in advanced programs - 6 at Art Center’s Saturday High and their college-level program Art Center at Night; one at the Taper, one in Ryman Arts.