DreamCity
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
That Was Easy competition.
DreamCity is an arts organization based in the nation?s capital that focuses on harnessing the voices, ideas, and dreams of young adults in the D.C Metropolitan area. We utilize the arts to empower our communities from within by instilling financial literacy and educational self- reliance within young adults who participate with DreamCity. The arts is our method in which to communicate our ambition, anger, angst, and hopes to the political, business, media and academic establishment. We use the arts to take back our communities from outside forces that have imposed their wills. DreamCity is representative of our generation's future.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Venture Field
Arts & Cultural Awareness
Year of Venture Launch
2005
Name
John
Role in the Venture:
Co-Founder of DreamCity, currently serve as Executive Director
Name Your Project
DreamCity
Describe Your Idea
DreamCity is an arts organization based in the nation?s capital that focuses on harnessing the voices, ideas, and dreams of young adults in the D.C Metropolitan area. We utilize the arts to empower our communities from within by instilling financial literacy and educational self- reliance within young adults who participate with DreamCity. The arts is our method in which to communicate our ambition, anger, angst, and hopes to the political, business, media and academic establishment. We use the arts to take back our communities from outside forces that have imposed their wills. DreamCity is representative of our generation's future.
Innovation
Venture Description:
DreamCity is an arts organization based in the nation?s capital that focuses on harnessing the voices, ideas, and dreams of young adults in the D.C Metropolitan area. We utilize the arts to empower our communities from within by instilling financial literacy and educational self- reliance within young adults who participate with DreamCity. The arts is our method in which to communicate our ambition, anger, angst, and hopes to the political, business, media and academic establishment. We use the arts to take back our communities from outside forces that have imposed their wills. DreamCity is representative of our generation's future.
Venture Origin:
DreamCity is a result of our prior experiences with arts organizations that did not forge life skills in their participants. DreamCity is an amalgamation of everything that we learned good and bad, while participating with these organizations. DreamCity is our own. DreamCity is the self-determination of all of the lost souls of our generation.
Innovation
DreamCity returns the arts to where it belongs. The street corners. DreamCity gathers all of the young people in the streets who not only want a better life but want to work hard to realize and achieve it. We utilize the arts to reach the unreached. Once we have reached them we begin to instill principles and values that are transforming. We use the arts to promote scholarship in every field.
Impact
Impact:
- Impact: In 2006, DreamCity performed The 70?, an original play written by John Muller and Justin McNeil. The 70? was performed at the Hip Hop Theater Festival at the Studio Theater. The 70? premiered over the course of three weeks and offered ten free performances at the MLK Jr. Memorial Library from 7/25 - 8/12. On 8/22 we performed The 70? at American University, and on 9/21 The 70? was in Baltimore, MD. Over 4500 people have The 70?.
- Engagement with the community: We have worked with Metro, DC Public Library, George Washington University, UDC, American University, DC Commission on Arts & Humanities, DC Humanities Council, DC Preservation League, News Channel 8, The Washington Post, Young Playwrights Theater, DC Public Schools, Metro Teen Aids, Hip Hop Theater Festival, DCPS, HU, etc. These organizations supported us by attending and promoiting our show.
- Impact and engagement progress since launch: We have reached people in DC from the White House to the crack houses. We have brought people from all backgrounds together. Our show was attended by white, black, yellow, brown, red, rich, poor, learned, unlearned, banked, unbanked, disabled, abled, young, old, in between, male, female, gay, straight, tall, short, and every other designation that can be singled out. We are changing the game.
- Impact and engagement strategy: This summer we will bring FREE performances of The 70? to the Lisner Auditorium, Atlas Performing Arts Center, & Lincoln Theater. We will reach more than 15,000 people due to the increased capacity of these venues. MLK Library only held 300 people for each show. Every show was packed with people waiting outside. Everyone who did not see The 70? this past summer will get a chance to in 2007.
- Awards: Nominated for three separate DC Mayor's Arts Awards. We have been awarded grants from multiple partners. GWU awarded us the MLK service award.
Budge:t
- Amount of Youth Venture seed grant: 700
- Money raised: Over $16,000 -- grants, sponsorships, personal donations, & performance fees. DC Commission on Arts & Humanities, Community Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, DC Hip Hop Theater Festival,
- Creative ways of raising resources: We have actively pursued grants, sponsorships, and personal donations. We have received performance fees from five separate partners. We have fundraised at local street and arts festivals selling our poetry magazine. We have exchanged in-kind donation for advertising space in our program.
Strategy:
- Expansion plan for next 6 months: We will receive our 501(c)3 non-profit TAX ID number within the next 60 days. This summer we will be bringing The 70? to the Lisner Auditorium, Atlas Performing Arts Center, and Lincoln Theater. Shows will be 100% FREE. Network within the city.
- Plans for sustaining the project: We are actively applying for grants from DCCAH, CYITC, UPO, Meyer Foundation, as well as multiple foundations and grant makers. We are pursuing corporate sponsorships. We are working to secure our own community space. We initiate our own arts program as well as employing members of the community.
- Vision for three years from now: We will have secured an abandoned theater in DC. We are working with Chevy Chase Bank, DC Preservation League, DC Office of Historic Preservation, DC Government, construction & development firms, civic groups, and multiple partners to identify an available theater. This will be our headquarters with a theater, computer lab, conference room, & offices. We will return art to where it belongs.
Project impact:
People in the city are looking at us. We are recognized by the homeless on the streets as easily as we are by the new Mayor-elect and members of his administration. That within itself is a transformative power. DreamCity has single-handedly begun a cultural and artistic Renaissance here in DC. We have shown the true power of a unified community. We have manifested the unanswered potential of our generation. We have answered the calls of those who sing songs of justice but do not believe them to be true. We have brought together everyone in our city behind a basic common link. We have used the arts to show that we have more common threads between us than we would otherwise realize. We have empowered the community from within by showing that there is a value to the street stories and the people who struggle everyday. By being visible we have set an example for other young adults to follow behind us. We have made life easier by broadcasting our message that we all fit in somewhere. We must take pride in our selves no matter how low or high we are society. We all play an important part in our city and DreamCity recognizes the hard work that goes unrecognized. Teachers, bus drivers, librarians, street sweepers, etc. We made life easier by providing art that is seeded, rooted, and cultivated within the community. We have made life easier by providing hope to our generation and our city.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
Youth Venture movement - what it means and how you can contribute:
Our generation is a generation lost. Our identity is not our own. The content of our character has been hallowed. Our generation has not earned the luxuries we have been afforded. The tireless work ethic that was the bedrock of the American Civil Rights movement has been forgotten by our generation. We are a collective group of unfocused, self-absorbed, petty bleeding heart individuals. We, the youth with resources and access to education, are infatuated with the struggle from a distance. The community has been sold out. We have gotten ours and we do not give anything back. We are soulless and conduct our lives without any sense of purpose. We focus on money and material things without an understanding of how to obtain happiness. Activity masquerades as accomplishment. We want our resumes to look good but we have not stepped into the real world. I cannot explain in a mere 250 words how important YV and the YV network is to me personally and DreamCity. I was a young adult who was very angry because I had ideas and energy, but no medium in which to cultivate my ambition. I was a member of the DC Youth Advisory Council when I found out about YV. My life has fundamentally changed since. When I first met YV, I was at a community college whereas now I am on the verge of graduating from George Washington University with honors. DreamCity is a living and breathing testament to the importance of YV.
 | 267 weeks agoAnonymous said: I'd like to vote in favor of DREAM CITY!!! I saw the play about the 70 Bus that I have actually ridden - it brought back memories ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 267 weeks agoAnonymous said: Whats up Joe Black ? Thank you for your support. Yes, I have come a long way with DreamCity. I was at the Avalon a couple of ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: You are the man John. Wow. From Starbucks to ABC News. Damn. Joe Black Entertainment, LLC supports DreamCity completely. about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: I first met John when he transferred to GW, I was a graduate student and he was an undergraduate. He and I would talk about work ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: DreamCity is an organization that produces hope as well as theatre, in their engagement with the usually neglected majority people ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: Proud to work with the youth, and understand that it is through them that we can see our futures morph into something better. ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: Proud to work with the youth, and understand that it is through them that we can see our futures morph into something better. ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: John, Justin and dream city crew. Respect. Keep on... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: Yes. There are many organizations and individuals making a measurable and visible difference in our city and instilling confidence in ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 268 weeks agoAnonymous said: Apology for spelling error - should read "tautoko". about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
