Rosie Perez who is an actress and also a community advocate has played a visible role in championing art education for the young. In 1991, she started the Urban Arts Partnership(UAP), which is a nonprofit organization whose goal it is to unite and engage youths who are under privileged, through arts. The organization is known for providing students in the community with the necessary tools and resources they need to advance their education and also give them more opportunities.
After giving back for 25 years, a benefit was held in New York last night by Rosie, the aim of the benefit was to highlight and showcase the work of her organization – and mostly, to celebrate all the students who participate in the UAP, as well as their achievements. The versatile range of the programs offered by the university serves 15,000 students and 500 teachers in more than 100 high poverty schools located across New York City and Los Angeles, every year.
The UAP has so far been able to provide resources and has created youth development projects that are positive. These projects are able to help the students develop both artistic and leadership skills. The organization’s 25th anniversary was a star-studded benefit with the likes of AJ Calloway, Lion Babe, Yolonda Ross, Allen Maldonado, Rotimi Akinosho, DJ D-Nice, Diane Neal, Ramon Rodriguez, and Elle Varner, among many others. During the benefit, Rosie said; “The only thing that separates a privileged student from an underprivileged student is opportunity. If you give a student the opportunity, they will rise to the occasion every time,” A moment was also take to celebrate the leaders of the community with dedication and commitment towards furthering education and positivity. The UAP honored model and body activist Ashley Graham, as well as other people.
The major goal of the UAP is to empower students and show them how to use their creativity as a voice, and how to utilize their artistic skills in both their classrooms and beyond. Some programs offered by the UAP include music production, media production, visual arts, spoken word, photography, coding, theater and dance. With the looming fear of the elimination of art funding by the federal government, it is important that organizations fight for underprivileged communities.