JHP Community Center’s
LIFE ARTS PROGRAMS
“Teaching Life Through the ARTS”

The JHPCC is now offering After School Programming that not only assist youth with academic tutoring but also incorporates seven different Life Arts Programs. 

It is the mission of the JHP Community Center to assist and provide youth in the inner city communities an opportunity to develop values and skills that will enable them to prevent and cope with negative influences throughout their lives. The Life Arts Programs is one vehicle designed to teach youth positive values, principles, and skills through the ARTS. The Program covers different art forms, which will allow youth to incorporate or adapt an art most suited to their interest or aptitude. It is through these studies and activities that will help youth establish a positive foundation of values, which they will carry throughout their lives into adulthood.

The programs are designed to be on-going, that if the youth chooses he or she could develop these skills into a career. The JHP Community Center is also looking to put a job placement center in place to assist these youth in finding jobs as they reach adulthood. The programs each start at different levels depending on the youth’s age and development. Each program allows some form of advancement providing a goal or reward system in order to motivate the youth to stay and continue with the program. 

All the programs include evaluations of each youth in the program in order to identify strengths and weaknesses as well as assist in identifying other services that the youth may require that the JHP Community Center may not service. Collaborations to provide other services such as scholarship programs, clinical services, social and behavioral services, financial aid, access to state and federal assistance programs, and other agencies that may assist in keeping the well being of the youth are an integral part in the success of these programs.

Life Arts is primarily designed to be a platform from which youth are able to identify and express themselves in an environment that fosters their creativity without threat from negative outside influences. This platform opens the door for the youth to be taught and guided to positive endeavors through the teachers and mentors provided through the program.

The ARTS PROGRAMS will be offered as after school activities. The activities become an expression of movement through different mediums. The youth will learn to express and channel their creative energy by expressing emotions and actions through the different skills they will develop. Each skill is adapted to the individual youth’s strengths and weaknesses and the teachings are imparted in such a way that youth retain a sense of value not only in themselves but in their teachers and mentors. 

Life Arts Program One – Martial Arts : The key to this Art is finding one’s Center. The center is the complete balance and harmonious relationship one has to him or her self, to one’s fellow man, and to one’s community.   It is this balance that one understands the virtues of self-discipline, harmony, and respect for others.

Life Arts Program Two – Painting/Drawing:
Painting/drawing is movement expressed on canvas and paper. Provides a creative and positive outlet for youth through the expression of emotion and spirit. The philosophy of the center is also taught in this program. Through their drawings youth can learn what harmony is through placement of images, balance of light and dark, patience, and contemplation through the interpretive meaning of their work.

 Life Arts Program Three – Theater  :Theater is a complete assimilation of interpretive movement through acting. Youth are taught within the same framework of the concept of the center, and how one learns to express themselves through acting by reflecting and understanding their inner selves first. This art develops an understanding of personality, compassion, and a deep reflection of who we are and our relationship to one another.

 Life Arts Program Four – Sculpture  :Sculpture is movement expressed by actually feeling the medium than is being sculpted. Understanding the fluid motion of the medium and expressing ones self through the sculpture. The center again embodies the central theme and balance and harmony are left to interpretation rather than chaos. Youth learn how to be sensitive when molding their medium and come to understand form and inner reflection when interpreting and competing their work

Life Arts Program Five – Music  : Music is the very expression of one’s spirit. Through sound, the infinite notes created through one’s voice and instruments demonstrate movement. Feeling the music is greatly emphasized, and again the center becomes the underlying philosophy. Youth learn inner development by letting go of inhibitions when they express themselves through music.

 Life Arts Program Six – Dance :Like Martial Arts, dance is movement in physical motion. The whole body and spirit become an expression as one glides across the floor. Youth learn how to sense their surroundings as they dance, and withdraw within themselves as their bodies walk on air.

Life Arts Program Seven – Writing/literature :Movement is expressed through the ebb and flow of words. Youth are taught inner reflection and expressing their hopes and dreams through he power and beauty of written word. Teaching is structured in the same way as all the other programs. Emphasizing positive values and providing a structured environment from which kids can learn.