Fight! Profile: Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility

The Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility began in 1989 as a six-week series of free modern dance classes for 50 students living in the Flatbush community of Brooklyn. Sister Kwayera Archer-Cunningham founded Ifetayo out of her love for children and a desire to enrich their lives with the arts and knowledge of their African cultural heritage. At the end of the six-week period, auditions were held and ten scholarship students were selected to become the founding members of the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble.

In the fifteen years since the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble was established, the organization has gone on to create additional programs designed to further support the creative, educational, and vocational development of African American and Caribbean youth. The Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility currently serves 500 students annually through seven major programs. In 2001, it was a Union Square Awards recipient, recognized for its nurturing approach to youth development and community building. More recently, Ifetayo received a $100,000 grant from the Charles Hayden Foundation to support its Rites of Passage programs.

Programs:

Sisters in Sisterhood Rites of Passage (SIS): geared to girls 8 to 21, this two-year Rites of Passage program offers practical instruction on health and sexuality, builds awareness of cultural heritage, and makes connections with local and international communities of women.

I Am My Brother (IAMB): The Rites of Passage program for boys and young men 8 to 21 relies on positive role models and mentors and provides students with the counter perspective in which black men are leaders, providers, scholars, and contributors to a global community.

Cultural Arts Program (CAP): open to all, this comprehensive and sequential arts instruction program offers after-school and Saturday classes in dance, music, drama, and visual arts.

Ifetayo Youth Ensemble (IYE): open by audition only, this pre-professional training and performing program is designed for people 11 to 24 years of age. The group performs at local community schools, theaters, churches, special events, at Ifetayo concerts, and other Brooklyn venues. Members receive full artistic scholarships for training and rehearsals.

Marcus Garvey Cultural Heritage Program (MGCHP): This program offers workshops and lectures on the cultures of Africa and the cultures of African descendents globally to young people and families annually. The program runs year-round and includes a Saturday program as well as special workshops, a language institute, and summer cultural tours.

Arts in Education (AIE): This program provides instruction in the arts to elementary schools students in the Flatbush and Crown Heights sections of Brooklyn in collaboration with community school boards and the New York City Department of Education.

More info about the Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility can be found at www.ifetayo.org.