ARTS Inc. began in 1970 in the Chinatown/Lower East Side area of New York City to help bridge the gap between local schools and their immigrant multi-ethnic populations. Inspired by the richness of local cultural traditions, a group of artists, teachers, and neighborhood residents set about finding ways to:
- use students’ own cultures as a positive force in their education
- increase mutual understanding among the diverse peoples of the Lower East Side
- preserve the heritage of this unique immigrant neighborhood.

ARTS’ founders – two teachers from PS 126 and JHS 65, a Puerto Rican youth worker, and two immigrant Chinese artists – over the years developed a unique program of classroom-based projects, linking curriculum areas with the arts and traditions of the neighborhood. By the end of the 1970’s, ARTS was active in seven local public schools, involving more than 20 artists with over 2,000 students each year.

In the next decade, ARTS also sponsored special cultural projects derived from the rich heritage of the Lower East Side:
- Nine Songs, the first opera by Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun, was produced by ARTS in 1989.
- Two modern dance companies, Tsai Fung and Guajana, led by artists from ARTS, presented several seasons of professional work.

ARTS developed ground-breaking model youth projects in the Humanities:
- The Trictionary, a Chinese-Spanish-English dictionary researched and translated by community youth, enhanced intercultural understanding.
- Waves: People and Culture on the Lower East Side was an ethnographic study of the Lower East Side by immigrant youth, with annual exhibitions in the New York Botanic Garden, in Chatham Square Public Library, and in 1987, at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklore in Washington, D.C. where it was seen by over one million people.

By the 1990’s ARTS had written and published over 20 books on the traditions and culture of Chinese and Caribbean Hispanic communities, documenting their holidays, language, music, games, and history, with sales to libraries, schools, community groups, and parents across the United States.

ARTS ceased all school and community programming in March 2007. 

Publications of ARTS are now available from Citylore (to order, please to go the order form)

The Waves archive and exhibitions (covering the Chinatown-Lower East Side area, 1984-1986) have been conserved and may be accessible for scholarly purposes.   Contact:  Mary, 134 Henry Street, NY NY 10002.

Former Directors Lu Yu and Marta Montanez may be reached by leaving a message at 212-962-8231.

ARTS at 32 Market Street