Grantees
and Partners

Recess

Overview

Recess partners with artists, youth, writers, and their chosen publics to create transformative cultural experiences. Our programs welcome radical thinkers to imagine and shape networks of resilience and safety. By challenging dominant narratives and activating new forms of creative production, Recess defines and advances the possibilities of contemporary art. Assembly, one of Recess’s flagship programs, offers system-impacted young people aged 18-26 an inroad to art and connections to working artists, while serving as an alternative to incarceration and its intersecting systems of oppression. The curriculum empowers young people to take charge of their own life story and envision a future through art.

Early involvement with the justice system begins a vicious and unjust cycle: those who already have limited access to resources are increasingly marginalized due to their court involvement. The ongoing trauma perpetrated by systemic oppression and racism lead to diagnosed and undiagnosed mental health challenges that interfere with the ability to fully take advantage of the training, mentorship, and opportunities offered. Almost all system-impacted youth report exposure to some type of traumatic event and the majority meet criteria for a mental health disorder, with more than a quarter meeting criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Grant

Purpose: To support Assembly, an artist-led “alternatives to incarceration” diversion program for court-involved youth that offers long-term pathways to employment in the cultural sphere.

Assembly offerings restore agency and self-determination through long term, meaningful, compensated engagement, integrating arts training, wellness, activism and career exploration in the arts and social justice. The program diverts both misdemeanor and felony charges and in 2020 expanded to include a peer-to-peer referral model, allowing Recess to broaden its reach. The Illumination Fund grant enabled Recess Arts to hire a full time Licensed Clinical Social Worker who uses a trauma-informed social justice framework to provide culturally-sensitive arts-based workshops centering mental health awareness, group therapy sessions and one-on-one consultations for participants, as well as org-wide integration of mental health and wellness.

Impact

The addition of an “artist/social worker” to the staff increased structured mental health support contact time from 1.5 hours to 11.5 hours with Assembly participants. 100% of the Assembly participants participated in mental health support during the grant period, surpassing the goal
target of 85% participation.

Since the inception of the Assembly program in 2017, Recess has served over 250 individuals with 92% completing Assembly workshops, allowing prosecutors the opportunity to close and seal over 197 cases, enabling our young people to avoid an adult record. Roughly a quarter of all participants have continued their involvement with the program in a paid capacity. Over 45 Assembly participants completed paid placements in the cultural/social justice sectors.

In 2023 we had 25 Peer Leaders (PL) participants compensated $500-1000/month depending on their self-selected level of engagement. We provided skill-building training and project tracks integrating arts education, screen printing, photography, music, digital recording, video production, job readiness, advocacy, financial literacy, mental health and activism. Collectively, our participants put in over 10,080 hours.

A 12-month Fellowship capstone program is offered to Assembly participants upon their completion of Peer Leadership. Fellowships are determined by the participants’ clear articulation of what they see as their next step beyond Recess and may include an field placement, development of a portfolio and/or job readiness package, and/or work on a campaign with an arts or social justice advocacy partner. In 2023, 8 young people joined the fellowship program and were compensated $2000/month for 16 hours of Recess-related work per week including placements at chosen sites, including:

• Manhattan Theater Company
• BAC: Broadway Advocacy Coalition
• Pratt Institute MFA Portfolio Development
• The Shed
• Weeksville Heritage Center
• NYU Gallatin Galleries
• Red Hook Justice Center Youth Impact
• Sweet Circuit