Yeah, Art! is a Black-founded arts education nonprofit.

We’re paving new career pathways for young artists of color. Yeah, Art! brings local artists to underfunded schools to lead music workshops. But we don’t teach the old-school ways of Beethoven and Mozart. Instead, we use modern references and music tech to inspire young artists with new creative possibilities.

MUSIC CLASSES

  • Listening and sound making — The first step in becoming a great artist is becoming a great listener. In this workshop we teach students how to use active listening techniques to discover the world around them. Then we make some noise. Students will be making music with things they already have sitting around their houses.

  • Vocal performance — Vocal workshops aren’t just for singers. Anyone with a voice can learn how to control it — make it bigger, softer, more expressive and signature. In the Yeah, Art! vocal workshop, students learn how to find and master their own unique voices by mixing classical techniques with modern examples of artists they look up to.

  • Songwriting and music production —Making a song is kind of like baking a cake. You start with flour. That’s our beat. Milk is our melody. Our bass line is the egg that glues it all together. Then we top it off with some harmony sprinkles. In the Yeah, Art! song production workshop, students learn through metaphor and modern references how to make something sound tasty.

  • Poetry and Lyrics — Poetry doesn’t sound or look the way it used to. Today, poetry is being redefined by lyrical greats like Chance The Rapper, Jhené Aiko and Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick Lamar. In the Yeah, Art! poetry and lyrics workshop, students learn how to write from their hearts through freestyle exercises, word association and improv games.

  • Sampling — We all know recycling is good for the environment, but did you know recycling can be good for our creativity? In Yeah Art!’s sampling workshop, students learn how to remix something new out of something that already exists, using sound bytes from their very own homes, classrooms, historical moments in social justice movements and even their favorite cartoons.

Take a listen to some of the original songs written and produced by our Oakland middle school students.

THE POWER OF THE ARTS, BY THE NUMBERS.

Yeah, Art! students report exciting increases in creative confidence.

45% increase in confidence in vocal performance

54% increase in confidence in songwriting

50% increase in confidence in music production

23% increase in interest in pursuing the arts

Watch our Cartoon Manifesto and follow Yeah, Art! to learn more.