Living Arts Offers Arts and Dance Programs for Youth and Adults at the FREC

About Living Arts

Living Arts is dedicated to strengthening the youth and neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit and beyond through dance education, arts-infused academics and community arts and cultural programs, sparking the imagination and fostering learning. Founded as Southwest Dance in 1999, Living Arts initially offered four weekly classes and served 19 students in Southwest Detroit, still our primary service area. Today, the organization engages over 4,000 community members annually in quality youth arts programming and arts-infused education. 

In 2008, El Arte Alliance merged with Living Arts and became our arts-infused education division. With a 17-year history of effective partnerships with Detroit teachers, artists, schools and community organizations, El Arte is dedicated to improving youth academic and artistic outcomes through learning in the arts.  This past spring, Living Arts expanded further with summer dance and after-school arts programming at the recently opened Ford Resource and Engagement Center at the Mexicantown Mercado.  By integrating our successful Southwest Dance program with a broader range of arts disciplines, we have established a new Out-of-School Arts initiative that will continue our commitment to create new opportunities for youth. 

Living Arts strives to create a safe, inspiring and engaging environment for youth, and adults alike, to experience the joys of the arts. Beyond learning in the arts, students acquire skills that help them to develop into mature, confident, expressive participants of the community. In keeping with our pursuit of excellence, we employ professional and developing artists to share their expertise and experience in an engaging way that creates an atmosphere filled with fun, respect and creativity where the students are motivated to excel in all areas of their lives.

Living Arts’ Programs at FRAEC

Living Arts has significantly expanded its ability to provide opportunities for youth to experience the joys of dance, music, and other art forms.  Through generosity from Ford Motor Company, we’ve expanded our dance programming to include summer dance courses and integrated other arts disciplines into a new initiative entitled Out-of-School Arts.  Living Arts now offers multidisciplinary arts programming for youth Monday through Thursday and on Saturdays, including some of our most popular school-day programming such as hip-hop songwriting, music production/recording, and visual arts to complement our longstanding dance offerings. 

Classes are offered to students of all skill and physical ability-levels, and are based in a graduated, prerequisite format that allows for everything from simple introductory arts practice to pre-professional development. There is a minimal monthly tuition fee for classes, but scholarships are available to students who qualify. Living Arts operates on the belief that no student should be turned away from our Out-of-School classes due to lack of funds.

Interested students and families should contact our Out-of-School Arts program manager, Cinthya Casillas, to register for classes or for more information at cinthya@livingartsdetroit.org or 313-384-2902.

You can visit our website to learn more about Living Arts at www.livingartsdetroit.org.