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The Mann Center Institute for Creative Arts and Community Impact

Our vision is for the Mann Center to serve as a creative catalyst for civically engaged youth and economic development that enriches the quality of life for Parkside and Greater Philadelphia.

The Mann's education and community engagement programs are designed and guided by three core initiatives:

  • Out of School Time (OST) initiatives offer students increased opportunities to explore and develop skills that are otherwise more difficult to access. These programs are shown to improve a student’s in-school engagement and retention of materials, proving the value of a program extends well beyond the time limitations of a specific project.
  • Workforce Development (WFD) programs seek to provide valuable learning environments and opportunities to students and young adults ages 10–25 with the goal of each participant gaining skills and tools needed for success. Through innovative partnerships, the Mann offers a variety of WFD programs targeted to address three main pillars: Awareness, Exposure, and Experience.
  • Creative Placemaking (CPM) initiatives help promote growth and enhancements to quality of life within our community through arts and culture programming. Successful Creative Placemaking programs require strategic partnerships across sectors and effectively intertwine cultural institutions, community developers, artists and other stakeholders within the surrounding neighborhoods.

The Mann Music Room Digital Curriculum was created for teachers to use as an engagement tool providing high-quality learning content. The MMR Curriculum takes students to different regions of the world by introducing styles of music, dance, instrumentation, and food representative of each cultural chapter! The six nations highlighted in the chapters of this curriculum are India, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the United States.

The Mann Center Junior Fellowship Program, launched in January 2019, is an introductory program within the Mann’s portfolio of workforce development initiatives. Its core mission is to provide every young person with the opportunity to be inspired by the sights, sounds, and rhythms of the arts through the magic and richness of educational programming. Thanks to the logistical support from our program partners at Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP), students submitted written and visual applications advocating for their spot in the program based on personal interests, passions, and one’s relation to the arts.

Motion & Music Academy is an all-year-round after-school arts program for children in grades 4 - 8 and is designed to provide quality choir, drumming, and dance classes to students of the Parkside neighborhood. This partnership-based program helps to bring acclaimed arts organizations to the West Parkside neighborhood. Program partners include:

• Highmark Blue Shield, Presenting Sponsor
• Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Lead Artistic Partner
• Global Leadership Academy, Program Site Partner
• Pennsylvania Ballet, Program Partner, Dance
• Sister Cities Girlchoir, Program Partner, Choir
• Mad Beatz Philly, Program Partner, Drumming

The Albert M. Greenfield All City Orchestra Summer Academy at the Mann (ACOSA) is the Mann’s premier summer orchestra training camp for young instrumentalists. The Mann Center, in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the School District of Philadelphia, Project 440, The Lyra Society, and Network for New Music, annually collaborate to facilitate this high-quality orchestra training experience at zero cost to local students. ACOSA is designed to serve students 6th grade to 12th grade and to provide a growth opportunity, guiding students to work on technical playing skills throughout the summer.

ACOSA is a three week camp with two different programs. Week one and two are traditional full orchestra weeks, while week three focuses on jazz music. Students may choose one or both of the two options.

The Music Industry Training Program (MITP) was launched in 2021 in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia and the program’s flagship school within the Mann’s West Philadelphia catchment, the historic Overbrook High School. The three-year curriculum-based program is designed to expose students to non-performance-based job positions within the performing arts sector (everything from lighting ops to carpenters to stagehands and more), provide hard and soft skill training that develop participant employability within the arts & culture sector and beyond, mentorship by industry leaders, and ultimately, wage-based job opportunities.

The Music Industry Apprenticeship Program (MIAP) is a first-of-its-kind post-high school theater tech training program. This program provides hourly wages and a full on-the-job training schedule offering trainees aged 18-24 working experience in a consortium of partner work sites within the theater tech industry. Launched in 2024, this program is the next chapter after the Mann Center’s 3-year high school program at Overbrook High School and School of the Future. 

Voices of Hope: An Event in Celebration of Black Excellence is the Mann's free community event that celebrates African-American culture and influential Philadelphians. The annual celebration honors innovators within a designated field and shines a light on the tremendous achievements of these local black individuals and groups. The evening also features awe-inspiring performances by professional choirs, dance troupes, and students from around Philadelphia.

Young People’s Concert Series events are presented free of charge and provide culturally diverse performing arts programs accessible to students, grades K – 12, and families in an informal atmosphere. Events feature performances by internationally acclaimed, emerging, and regional young regional artists on the Mann Center’s Presser Foundation Stage. Presented at the TD Pavilion at the Mann, YPCS performances are a welcome opportunity for individuals and groups interested in visiting the Mann campus to do so at no cost.

Events are free to attend but advanced registration is required.

Contact Us

To learn more about our dynamic Education & Community Engagement opportunities, please contact Education@MannCenter.org. 

Image for Education
The Mann Center Institute for Creative Arts and Community Impact

Our vision is for the Mann Center to serve as a creative catalyst for civically engaged youth and economic development that enriches the quality of life for Parkside and Greater Philadelphia.

The Mann's education and community engagement programs are designed and guided by three core initiatives:

  • Out of School Time (OST) initiatives offer students increased opportunities to explore and develop skills that are otherwise more difficult to access. These programs are shown to improve a student’s in-school engagement and retention of materials, proving the value of a program extends well beyond the time limitations of a specific project.
  • Workforce Development (WFD) programs seek to provide valuable learning environments and opportunities to students and young adults ages 10–25 with the goal of each participant gaining skills and tools needed for success. Through innovative partnerships, the Mann offers a variety of WFD programs targeted to address three main pillars: Awareness, Exposure, and Experience.
  • Creative Placemaking (CPM) initiatives help promote growth and enhancements to quality of life within our community through arts and culture programming. Successful Creative Placemaking programs require strategic partnerships across sectors and effectively intertwine cultural institutions, community developers, artists and other stakeholders within the surrounding neighborhoods.

The Mann Music Room Digital Curriculum was created for teachers to use as an engagement tool providing high-quality learning content. The MMR Curriculum takes students to different regions of the world by introducing styles of music, dance, instrumentation, and food representative of each cultural chapter! The six nations highlighted in the chapters of this curriculum are India, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the United States.

The Mann Center Junior Fellowship Program, launched in January 2019, is an introductory program within the Mann’s portfolio of workforce development initiatives. Its core mission is to provide every young person with the opportunity to be inspired by the sights, sounds, and rhythms of the arts through the magic and richness of educational programming. Thanks to the logistical support from our program partners at Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP), students submitted written and visual applications advocating for their spot in the program based on personal interests, passions, and one’s relation to the arts.

Motion & Music Academy is an all-year-round after-school arts program for children in grades 4 - 8 and is designed to provide quality choir, drumming, and dance classes to students of the Parkside neighborhood. This partnership-based program helps to bring acclaimed arts organizations to the West Parkside neighborhood. Program partners include:

• Highmark Blue Shield, Presenting Sponsor
• Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Lead Artistic Partner
• Global Leadership Academy, Program Site Partner
• Pennsylvania Ballet, Program Partner, Dance
• Sister Cities Girlchoir, Program Partner, Choir
• Mad Beatz Philly, Program Partner, Drumming

The Albert M. Greenfield All City Orchestra Summer Academy at the Mann (ACOSA) is the Mann’s premier summer orchestra training camp for young instrumentalists. The Mann Center, in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the School District of Philadelphia, Project 440, The Lyra Society, and Network for New Music, annually collaborate to facilitate this high-quality orchestra training experience at zero cost to local students. ACOSA is designed to serve students 6th grade to 12th grade and to provide a growth opportunity, guiding students to work on technical playing skills throughout the summer.

ACOSA is a three week camp with two different programs. Week one and two are traditional full orchestra weeks, while week three focuses on jazz music. Students may choose one or both of the two options.

The Music Industry Training Program (MITP) was launched in 2021 in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia and the program’s flagship school within the Mann’s West Philadelphia catchment, the historic Overbrook High School. The three-year curriculum-based program is designed to expose students to non-performance-based job positions within the performing arts sector (everything from lighting ops to carpenters to stagehands and more), provide hard and soft skill training that develop participant employability within the arts & culture sector and beyond, mentorship by industry leaders, and ultimately, wage-based job opportunities.

The Music Industry Apprenticeship Program (MIAP) is a first-of-its-kind post-high school theater tech training program. This program provides hourly wages and a full on-the-job training schedule offering trainees aged 18-24 working experience in a consortium of partner work sites within the theater tech industry. Launched in 2024, this program is the next chapter after the Mann Center’s 3-year high school program at Overbrook High School and School of the Future. 

Voices of Hope: An Event in Celebration of Black Excellence is the Mann's free community event that celebrates African-American culture and influential Philadelphians. The annual celebration honors innovators within a designated field and shines a light on the tremendous achievements of these local black individuals and groups. The evening also features awe-inspiring performances by professional choirs, dance troupes, and students from around Philadelphia.

Young People’s Concert Series events are presented free of charge and provide culturally diverse performing arts programs accessible to students, grades K – 12, and families in an informal atmosphere. Events feature performances by internationally acclaimed, emerging, and regional young regional artists on the Mann Center’s Presser Foundation Stage. Presented at the TD Pavilion at the Mann, YPCS performances are a welcome opportunity for individuals and groups interested in visiting the Mann campus to do so at no cost.

Events are free to attend but advanced registration is required.

Contact Us

To learn more about our dynamic Education & Community Engagement opportunities, please contact Education@MannCenter.org.