City Kids Art Factory, Inc. has faithfully served its mission of "connecting the Jacksonville, FL youth's hands, head and heart to art and education and positive youth development activities" since its inception in 1999. For 21 years, City Kids Art Factory worked with local businesses and museums like The Ritz, MOCA, The Cummer Museum, The Florida Theater, and MOSH to help inner-city youth embrace the arts. After many years of service, the organization has chosen the Jacksonville Arts & Music School (JAMS) as its successor, a transition that will take place in spring 2021.
"In this environment of limited financial resources, City Kids Art Factory, Inc. looked to identify an organization to join forces within an effort to serve and expand the artistic curriculum of youth in the urban core. Transition to Jacksonville Arts & Music School (JAMS) clearly meets this goal and maximizes resources available in the community and will allow us to reach a larger audience while providing quality arts education." – City Art Factory Leadership Team.
JAMS, whose mission is to "empower the creative leaders of tomorrow," will maintain CKAF's primary function, providing arts-based instruction to youth in the community, coupling it with leadership development as the conduit for producing critical thinkers. In addition to after school and summer camp programming, JAMS will address the spring and winter break opportunity gap for instruction in keeping with the Factory's primary focus.
This succession also expands JAMS' current vision for arts education and leadership beyond their immediate community by developing youth amongst the two programs community populous. JAMS Executive Director Jason Peoples said, "We sincerely hope to expand on the great work City Kids Art Factory, Inc. has done for many years now, and to welcome its students and their parents to the JAMS Family."
Please join us in celebrating the City Kids Art Factory's legacy and the expansion of JAMS' effort to empower tomorrow's creative leaders.