MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY
SoLa is broadening its impact on the community by providing after school art programs for youth. These Project SoLa programs have been held at SoLa Center for the Arts and the Senator Circle Housing Development Complex. The goals of the program are to encourage the development of good work habits, provide sequential arts instruction, raise self esteem of youth through self expression, and introduce youth to opportunities in the arts.
Project SoLa serves the population of students ranging in age from 8 to 14 who exhibit low self esteem, a need for identity formation, impulse control skills, and/or social skills development.
After conducting research in conjunction with the Houma Regional Arts Council, SoLa discovered that there are currently no arts-in-education programs addressing youth in the manner in which Project SoLa does. This program uses art as an intervention / prevention to delinquent behavior by specifically addressing the self esteem needs of the students served.
This program has been supported by the Terrebonne Parish Children and Youth Planning Board, the City Court of Houma, the Assistant District Attorney, Families in Need of Services (FINS), Project Le Cirque and the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center.
As stated in the Louisiana State Office of Youth Development’s Strategic Development Plan, “partnering with the community affords our youth the opportunity to belong and contribute, to form close relationships, make meaningful choices, develop transferable skills, and mentor others.” As a nonprofit agency, SoLa Center for the Arts has an obligation to enhance the community in ways that correlate to this goal. Project SoLa is one such program.
Project SoLa was modeled after the YouthARTS Development Project.