About Us
Mission:
The mission of Urban Artist Alliance for Child Development (UAACD) is to enhance the socio-cultural well-being of young people through arts and education.
Purpose:
Our purpose is to engage youth populations in need of a fresh approach to learning when their existing school environments leave them in the periphery of academic development. Our brand of art-based youth-centered supplemental instruction attracts teens and families from diverse economic backgrounds. While we target students who cannot afford arts programs we often accept applications from students attending private schools who reside in middle income communities.
This has been a testament to the lack of programs in existence in our area that provide arts outlets for youth. UAACD is proud of its history connecting teaching artists with children from economically disadvantaged who are seldom exposed to quality educational environments. UAACD will continue to provide instruction in the arts with linkages to other subject areas to prepare students for a variety of educational environments.
History:
UAACD was originally conceived as Urban Artist Alliance in September of 1999, an aspiring grassroots social arts organization comprised of poets, writers, actors, musicians, and artists of color.
The goals of the organization were to provide arts-entertainment in St. Louis, mobilize artists for community involvement, and seek out financial opportunities on behalf of working artists.
The focus shifted in the summer of 2001 when an employee of the St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center approached the founder about facilitating spoken word poetry workshops for detained juveniles.
This opportunity to serve young people, is the foundation of UAACD.