YMCA arts and humanities program records

Art activities have played a role in YMCA programs throughout much of the movement's history. Arts and crafts activities were common at after-school programs and YMCA camps around the world. These early art programs included student performances, photography clubs, and painting courses, among other activities; however, these programs were created by the initiative of individual YMCA associations, rather than any concerted effort by the national movement.

In 1982, the YMCA national office hosted a consultation on the arts by inviting fifty associations with arts programs to present their work and program details to the larger YMCA movement. The next year, the YMCA held the National Seminar on the Arts, a three-day conference in Chautauqua, New York, which led to the creation of the YMCA's Arts Week and a comprehensive arts training program at four associations in the United States.

The Writer's Voice program, perhaps the most notable arts program of the YMCA, was conceived of by a New York writer named Jason Shinder in 1981. The program was based out of New York's West Side YMCA, and offered writing workshops and readings by prominent authors, including Allen Ginsberg, Isaac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut and many others. In 1986, the Writer's Voice was merged with the Writers Community, a community-based writing initiative that would eventually place authors-in-residence to live and work in YMCAs. Following a $2.75 million grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund in 1991, the program was expanded to become the YMCA National Writer's Voice program, which led to the establishment of six literacy centers around the country.

Arts activities grew in popularity at YMCAs throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Some associations started to offer art activities for members, while others were even opening arts centers staffed with art and dance directors. YMCA camps and associations also offered residence programs for artists who wished work in YMCAs by teaching and creating art. In 1998, the YMCA announced that arts and humanities would become a “core program area” of the movement. Jason Shinder – the founder of the YMCA National Writer's Voice – was chosen to direct the YMCA's new arts and humanities program.

As schools and communities cut funding for arts programs, the YMCA has stepped up to fill the void by aspiring to become the largest and most influential arts provider for kids and adults in the United States. Since 1998, American YMCA arts programs have increased 29 percent on average annually, with more than 1,100 YMCAs claiming to be “arts-friendly” in 2012. In addition, the YMCA National Writer's Voice program has grown to include more than thirty YMCAs.

[ Historical information was adapted from the collection, as well as from "Gibson Foundation Supports YMCA Arts and Humanities Initiatives" (http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gibson-foundation-supports-ymca-arts-and-humanities-initiatives-56281592.html) ; "Laurel Blossom: The Writer's Community" (http://www.laurelblossom.com/writers-community.html) ; and "YMCA of Long Island: Cultural Arts" (http://www.ymcali.org/Association/Programs/Cultural-Arts.aspx) ]