Fifteen hours after driving out of Bowling Green, Kentucky, six employees of Kaleidoscope, a community based youth development program, arrived in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania for the BuildaBridge Institute. The group, which had a few returning participants, attended with the hopes of enriching their programs and going home with some new ideas.

Director Lauren Cunningham was originally offered the position to coordinate the first middle and high school program of its kind in Bowling Green. “BuildaBridge was influential in the philosophy of how we use art,” she said, adding that building relationships often takes precedence over the arts. Kaleidoscope offers visual arts, dance and two music classes.

After looking for a model for the organization, Cunningham came across BuildaBridge and the Institute. The core ideas of BuildaBridge were what prompted Ben Kickert to attend. He explained that his artistic skills were not a factor; instead, he came because of his belief in the transformative power of the arts. Kickert, who is the Community Development Coordinator, works to expand the scope of the organization, establishing connections outside of the program. He hopes that Kaleidoscope can become involved with more faith and community service organizations.

Like Kickert, Gary Hook and Alan Sweeny hope to teach kids and promote positive values through the arts. This year, the two taught a hip hop skills development class based on their courses with Kaleidoscope. Both showed an interest in music at a young age. By the time he was 16, Hook was DJing, and Sweeny had learned to play the drums and piano by age seven. Their interest in the medium still thrives. Hook plays in a band and continues to DJ. Sweeny works with a record company from Canada, Locution Revolution.

While in college, Hook met Cunningham. They didn’t like the list of potential classes for the program, so he suggested a hip hop class. Today, the class is comprised of about 14 kids, who record their own beats and rhymes. Hook, who differentiates between hip hop and rap, said that he appreciates the honesty of the music, its ability to celebrate and talk about experiences. To avoid the negative content that is often associated with the genre, he asks the kids in his class to write songs about everyday experiences, like a relationship with their mom or their graduation. “We’re trying to take the negative influence and turn it on its head,” he said.