“Seeing artists work diligently to bring their ideas to life, starting from a concept and following it through the many twists and turns of the creative process, has inspired me to work hard to bring my own ideas to life by keeping an open-mind and trusting my creativity.”
–Youth Corps Alum, Class of 2012

The Youth Corps is a group of New York City public high school students that are immersed in the art and creative processes of the Armory’s artists through paid, project-oriented internships that provide job and career training, leadership development, and essential communication and life skills. The Youth Corps is comprised of public school students who attend schools with whom the Armory has a close relationship.

The Youth Corps provides a test audience to the Armory Artist Corps during the lesson design process, offering feedback from a student perspective, serves as Front of House staff for all Armory events, assists in administrative projects in all departments, and completes and presents a term project.

The Summer 2014 Youth Corps term project explored Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Partnering with teens in the Education Programme of the Berlin Philharmonic, Youth Corps students analyzed how Peter Sellars’ inclusive and locomotive staging approach in combination with Bach’s transcendent music alters the audience’s experience into something that is both distinctly personal and communal. Inspired by this radical staging of the Passion as a communal grieving process, students created an artistic experience – through movement and music – that is simultaneously personal and communal: an audio walk reflecting the themes of St. Matthew Passion. For more information, click here.

The Youth Corps meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, as well as additional evenings and weekends.

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Youth Corps in the News!

Behind the Scenes at the Armory, an Immersion Course in History –The New York Times

Students Get Creative –The New York Times