{"id":2,"date":"2023-04-10T14:44:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T14:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.52project.org\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2025-09-08T19:40:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:40:51","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/52project.org\/es\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"Sobre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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About the Project<\/h2>\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The 52nd Street Project (The Project) is a non-profit arts education and mentoring organization dedicated to the young people (ages 9 – 18) who live in the Hell\u2019s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. By collaborating with professional theater artists who volunteer their time and talent, the Project is able to offer year-round programming that is free for the participants.<\/p>\n

The young people start with Playmaking, which teaches the basics of creating original work for the theater. At the end of the course, their new plays are presented free to the general public.<\/p>\n

After Playmaking, all of the other Project programming becomes available, including arts expansion and theatrical performance, as well as academic mentoring programs. The Project offers employment opportunities to the teens, and a modest scholarship for any Project member continuing their education past high school.<\/p>\n

Because all programs and productions are free, The Project relies on donations from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies.<\/p>\n

For further information, or direct inquiries, contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Our Mission<\/h2>\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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The mission of The 52nd Street Project, a community-based arts organization, is to bring together kids from Hell\u2019s Kitchen in Manhattan, starting at age nine and lasting through their teens, with theater professionals to create original theater offered free to the general public. By building on the core experience of accomplishment and collaboration, the Project fosters a sense of inclusion in a place where the children belong and where their creative work is the driving force. Through long-term mentoring relationships and exposure to diverse art forms (including Poetry, Photography, Theatrical Design, Dance, and Filmmaking), the Project seeks to expand the children\u2019s means of expression and to improve their literacy, their life skills and their attitude towards learning.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\n\t\t

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Our History<\/h2>\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Project was founded in 1981 by actor\/playwright Willie Reale in response to a deepening need to improve the quality of life for the kids of Hell\u2019s Kitchen. He used his privileges as a company member of Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) to reach out to the children of the neighborhood by creating theatrical endeavors specifically for them. This was done with the cooperation and support of EST and its across-the-street-neighbor, the Police Athletic League\u2019s Duncan Center. In 1994, Mr. Reale was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (informally known as \u201cthe genius grant\u201d) for creating The 52nd Street Project.<\/p>\n

For its first fifteen years, the Project relied on borrowed spaces in which to implement its programs. In 1996, the Project established The Clubhouse, a center where children could come after school. This led to the creation of our academic mentoring program Smart Partners in 1997. In 1998, the Project received the inaugural Coming Up Taller Award (so named after a quote from Founder Willie Reale) from the NEA and President\u2019s Committee on the Arts. In 2010, the Project opened its current facility, which includes, for the first time in its history, its very own theater (Five Angels Theater) dedicated to the work of the kids of the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Past artist\/volunteers have included Rose Byrne, Bill Camp, Bobby Cannavale, Zoe Chao, David Costabile, Billy Crudup, Crystal Dickinson, Peter Dinklage, Brandon Dirden, Edie Falco, Ray Fisher, Jim Gaffigan, Nancy Giles, Jonathan Groff, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Judy Kuhn, Kathleen Madigan, Roma Maffia, Mozhan Marn\u00f3, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Frances McDormand, Adrienne C. Moore, Michael Potts, Theresa Rebeck, Lili Taylor, Jessica Williams, Frank Wood and hundreds of others. Many return regularly, as they find the experience fulfilling and artistically stimulating.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

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Meet Our Staff<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
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