WHAT IS ANTHROPOS ARTS?
Anthropos Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect low-income youth with professional musicians, cultivating confidence, integrity and life-skills through musical instruction and mentorship. Our students get free instruction and mentoring from some of the best artists in the country, performance opportunities at Austin’s seminal venues and events and exposure to a wide range of music as both audience and performer.
Anthropos Arts was founded to address a need in Austin for high-quality music education for low-income students. Anthropos Arts began in the spring of 1998 at Travis and Reagan High School, with 2 workshops and 15 students getting free music lessons. Since that beginning, we have gone on to provide over 20,000 music lessons to low-income students, over 150 incredible workshops in Title I schools with world- class and Grammy-winning artist, over 100 public student performances and collaborations with world-renowned artists. All of this has come at $0 cost to the students, families, schools, or districts that we serve.
IMPACT STATEMENT
- 100% of our students are low-income and have little or no access to live music, no exposure to significant music genres, and no opportunity to receive high-quality individualized music instruction.
- Through our programs students improve their grades and become leaders in their school music programs.
- 100% of our senior students graduate from high school.
- 90% of our senior students attend college on scholarship, many securing full rides.
- Our music selections are intentionally diverse to foster versatile musicians with knowledge and appreciation for other cultures. Our kids learn Jazz, Latin, Indian, Arabic, Hip Hop, Romanian Gypsy, Rock, Funk, and other genres from all across the globe.
- In addition to an annual showcase of their work, our students perform in some of the seminal music events in the Austin community including ACL Festival, SXSW, Stubb’s, Pachanga Latin Music Festival, Austin Music Hall, and others.
OUR STORY
Imagine not having three meals a day. Imagine not knowing where you would sleep each night. Imagine having a parent or sibling in jail. Imagine living in a house marked by violence, addiction, and abuse. Imagine facing pressure to join a gang or to use drugs. Imagine not having a support network of family, friends, mentors, and teachers to provide guidance and hold you accountable. On a daily basis, our students are challenged by all combinations of these obstacles that come with living in poverty.
100% of our students are from low-income families, ranging from homeless, food-insecure, to just short of meeting basic needs for survival. They are, on average, 7 times as likely to drop out of high school, twice as likely to still be poor/unemployed by age 35, and 63 times more likely to have an adult crime on their record than someone with a Bachelor’s degree. These are just a few of many daunting statistics showing how the odds are stacked against the students we serve.
In schools with alarmingly low graduation rates, 100% of our senior students graduate from high school, with more than 90% continuing to college on scholarship! Students who matriculate to college statistically earn more, are less likely to live in poverty into adulthood, are less likely to use public assistance, and dramatically increase the chances of THEIR children pursuing higher education and breaking the cycle of generational poverty.
How do we do it? We pride ourselves on being one of the best sounding student groups in Austin, playing the coolest and most advanced music, with the most incredible–even famous–teachers and mentors. BUT IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MUSIC. Anthropos Arts was founded on the principal that the best way to consistently improve our communities is through education.
Countless studies show that kids who study music are more likely to stay in school, stay out of trouble, get better grades, and academically outperform their peers. At Anthropos Arts music is the bait to get kids paired with an inspiring mentor…to have a caring adult in their life who shows up every week just for them. Someone who asks them about their grades and helps them plan how to get their work done. Someone who begins talking to them about college and setting goals. An adult non-authority figure who will LISTEN to them.
Music is the thing that gets them to school, because they know their band mates, teachers, and mentors all have high expectations for them, are depending on them… and will hold them accountable. It’s the thing that keeps them academically eligible, the after-school rehearsals that keep them learning under adult supervision during peak hours of juvenile crime, the safe space that allows them to be ‘cool’ and a ‘nerd’ at the same time! Did we mention that it is also FUN, builds tremendous confidence, literally ‘grows’ your brain’s potential, is therapeutic, offers an avenue for self-expression, teaches teamwork, listening, work ethic, self-discipline, etc.?
As we teach our kids how to play a major scale, we are also teaching them how to manage their time, how to study and practice effectively, how to keep a master calendar, show up early, be prepared for class and rehearsal, communicate effectively with adults/teachers/bosses, be aware of their body language, develop GOOD PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC HABITS, etc. We provide them with the tools to make better decisions and set higher expectations for themselves and their future.
This is how Anthropos Arts helps our kids beat the odds.
