Young Audiences of Virginia, Inc

In partnership with Families of Autistic Children in Tidewater (FACT), this inclusive residency teaches dance, music, and visual arts to middle and high school students with autism. The program is designed for students to join with their peers and learn new skills in a supportive environment.

Testimonial: “My son is 13 years old, and I can’t tell you how many events, classes, camps. Workshops, schools, and more that we have signed up for that have backfired on us. Last night he attended the arts dance/movement program. When we came to pick him up, I was preparing myself for what has become the norm for us. Some type of issue—either from him or the program… This is what my son told me as soon as we were in the car: ‘I liked it. It was fun. Honestly, I went in expecting the worst, but I ended up getting the best.’ I can’t tell you what those simple words meant to me. Well, yes, I can. It meant the world!” Kara Rothman-Reighard, mother of Jesse

These bilingual art activity kits feature original curriculum that include the supplies students need to complete a hands-on visual arts project at home or in classroom settings. Our newest kit, Tessellations, was created to help third-graders prepare for standardized testing, providing them a screen-free, hands-on way to reinforce key math concepts such as measuring area and perimeter.

Our mini-comic "learning snack" guides students in how to write and draw their own comic adventures as they invent characters, plots, and settings. Our Zen of 'Za snack was custom designed for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder but is also suitable for younger elementary students. Project activities include students stretching in yoga-like poses to “make a pizza” and constructing a decorative “pizza” out of the art materials supplied.

All kits include instructions in English and Spanish for ESL learners.

This after-school residency teaches the violin to elementary students in under-served schools. The program has run for many years at Title 1 schools in Portsmouth and may be expanded to high-need schools in another school division in the coming school year. During the residency, students learn the basics of how to play the violin, with no need to purchase or rent an instrument, and with no cost to them or their families. At the end of the residency, students play a special violin concert for families and friends.

Our artists have recorded select programs in our Norfolk production studio, which we have professionally edited and made available as videos. Each is accompanied by grade-specific curriculum guides. Educators “check out” videos for a limited period of time, accessing them directly via the Arts for Learning website for smooth integration into classroom lessons. One video, the African American Heritage Trail, was used in the fifth-grade curriculum for Norfolk Public Schools during the 2021/2022 school year. Storyteller Sheila Arnold shares the struggles and triumphs of the real-life African Americans who made history in the Lower Norfolk area (now part of Chesapeake) in a program that spans from the 1500s to the early 1900s.