Americans for the Arts and The United States Conference of Mayors are pleased to present the Greater Columbus Art Council’s (GCAC) “Children of the Future” program with the 2003 Award for Excellence in Arts Programming for Youth.  This national award honors a youth-based initiative that has succeeded in touching the lives of community young people through the advancement of the arts.  “Children of the Future” is an arts-based Americorps public safety program serving youth in neighborhoods that experience high incidents of crime and other social problems.  The program provides neighborhood safe havens and emphasizes the development of constructive communication and conflict resolution skills as tools for coping with the daily challenges of peer pressure, drugs and violence.

“Children of the Future” grew out of a pilot after-school arts program begun in 1992, through a partnership with the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) and the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, with a neighborhood improvement grant supplied from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The program was expanded to multiple sites in 1995 with funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Americorps program.  Americorps remains a major funder and supporter of the program.

“Children of the Future” has established a unique and successful collaboration among program partners including the City of Columbus Recreation & Parks Department, the Department of Public Safety (Police Department), the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus, Inc., and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing and Cultural Arts Complex.  More recent collaborating agencies include the J. Ashburn, Jr. Youth Center, the Homeless Families Foundation, the Somali Women’s Association, and the City of Columbus’ Cap City Kids Program.  “Children of the Future” has been highlighted as a model HUD public housing program for youth.  HUD featured this program in both a national teleconference and in several training materials.   It has also been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.