Our arts education mission is to connect the community through theatre, and address and confront the challenges we face as a society so we can move forward together and create positive change. Our Community Programs range across age groups and backgrounds to embrace the complexity and brilliance of this diverse community we call home. From Builders of the New World, which serves children experiencing homelessness, to our open-to-all Coming Together Through Creativity program and everything in-between, you’ll find a creative space for you to wrestle with the complexities and amplify the joys of life. Join us as we struggle, learn, and celebrate together through connection, empathy, and art.
ATW guides and teaches some of our most vulnerable young New Yorkers through our award-winning Builders of the New World program, created especially for children dealing with the tremendous instability of living in temporary housing facilities.
Our staff and a diverse group of volunteer mentors help create a warm, stable, homelike environment for the children where they meet new friends and enjoy delicious meals. We teach the children original theatre and education techniques that improve their reading, writing, and presentation skills. They learn to have an intention in life and draw and write about their visions for the future.
Creativity is a powerful force and tool in times of great change.
Our inspiring, interactive class and lecture series is led by Artistic Director and Founder Thurman E. Scott. In Coming Together Through Creativity, Mr. Scott shares insights and techniques to bring people of different backgrounds and beliefs together, and help us accept each other. When diverse people join together they feel their power and encourage others to speak up. Connection and unity give us the energy and the courage to accept our individuality and common bonds. Now is our chance to develop new tools to meet the challenges ahead and reshape our country.
At The Actors Theatre Workshop, we believe in the transformative power of the performing arts to uplift, inspire, and empower. Led by ATW’s Founder and Artistic Director, Thurman E. Scott, Life Stories for Immigrants is a creative writing and performance workshop for immigrants to the United States (and their descendants).
In this 5-week scholarship program, adults will learn Thurman E. Scott’s creative writing techniques. Share your creative work and your story with friends and family in a safe, creative space.
We feel tremendously excited to be a part of these stories that individuals—young and old—have lived through. Many have a particular story to tell, including the struggles and the insights that they have learned from coming to America,. For many years, these personal journeys have not been recognized, and sharing them will allow our society to gain new insight into the experiences of all its members.
Whether you’re a parent, a student, a neighbor, or someone who believes in the arts as a force for good—we invite you to join us in building a more inclusive, empowered future.
This is a weekly program of five three-hour classes and a final presentation at the end of the session. The classes will be on Wednesdays from 6:00-9:00PM: May 21st, 28th, and June 11th, 18th, and 25th. The final presentation will be Monday, June 30th at 6:00PM. Refreshments will be served during each class.
When ATW first incorporated as a non-profit, we created an inspiring drama and education program for high school students from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds. The YPCW gives young people a place to exercise their immense potential, fulfills their pressing need for guidance, and encourages them to reach for their dreams. Please share this exciting opportunity with the young people in your life and encourage them to apply for our next session as we expand our commitment to ATW’s very first community program.
We regularly run programming to meet community and partner needs. This includes Life Stories, Young People’s Creativity Workshops, Coming Together Through Creativity for corporate partners, and other programs. If you are interested in discussing programming that addresses specific goals, please reach out!
