February 3, 2025
UPDATE
New Orleans Students Unveil Their Creative Talents Using iPad and Mac
In the heart of New Orleans, community partner Ellis Marsalis Center for Music and Arts New Orleans shines a light on the city’s emerging young artists.
On a gloomy afternoon, the intersection of Bartholomew and Prieur streets in New Orleans’ historic Ninth Ward remains peaceful, providing a stark contrast to the vibrant bustle of the nearby French Quarter, filled with jazz clubs and restaurants.
At 3 p.m., the atmosphere begins to change as youth aged 8 to 18 pass through the blue building’s entrance, carrying their instruments. The hallways transform with laughter, footsteps, and the sounds of music as students gather for their day’s classes: piano, homework assistance, an instrument of their choice, and coding — a vital course made possible through the center’s collaboration with Apple.
Since its inception in 2019, the partnership with Apple has allowed EMCM to broaden its course offerings, integrating tech-centric education alongside its exceptional music programs.
“Some might question, ‘Why is a music institution teaching coding?’ We believe it’s all interconnected — it forms a digital tapestry,” explains Lisa Dabney, the center’s executive director. “It’s about bridging the digital divide, equipping students with technology, and exposing them to varied, long-term career paths in music technology and other fields. In a community where many families lack access to devices, this collaboration with Apple empowers our students with technology that opens up creative and professional opportunities they may never have envisioned.”
Apple’s support for EMCM reflects the company’s long-standing effort to foster youth creativity in New Orleans through technology. While budding musicians at EMCM explore coding and produce new tracks using Logic Pro and GarageBand, students at Delgado Community College are launching their own podcast focused on local cultural figures, and young artists from Arts New Orleans are using iPads to create a new mural that fans will see on their way to the Superdome this weekend.
“It’s inspiring to witness the fusion of technology and creativity, especially here in my hometown of New Orleans,” shares Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “Creativity and the arts are inherent to our identity. We are excited to continue collaborating with our community partners and the talented youth who bring vibrancy to this city.”
The diverse programming at EMCM is a direct result of its namesake’s vision, ensuring that future generations can carry forward the city’s rich cultural heritage. This effort is particularly crucial in the Ninth Ward, a neighborhood known for its significant musicians, civil rights advocates, and educators, which bore heavy repercussions from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“Our founder firmly believed that truly understanding music starts with learning to listen,” says Dabney. “Piano instruction plays a vital role in developing critical listening skills, fostering a deep connection to music, and establishing a strong foundation in music theory. Therefore, piano is a required class for all students alongside their primary instrument.”
That foundational approach now extends to coding and audio engineering courses. In the center’s Mac lab, students learn coding fundamentals through Apple’s Everyone Can Code and Swift Playgrounds. Meanwhile, in the music studio, they acquire the skills to engineer tracks using GarageBand and Logic Pro. Additionally, students receive their own iPads each semester, allowing them to practice and enhance their skills at home.
The audio engineering courses, supported by Apple, are among the center’s newest offerings for high school students.
For Jacob Jones Jr., a high school senior proficient in saxophone, trumpet, and piano, Dr. Dickerson’s audio engineering class has shifted his perspective on music.
“Creating a sound on an instrument is wonderful, but hearing it processed through a computer allows you to expand it into something entirely original,” explains Jones.
Outside of class, he frequently applies his knowledge of Logic and GarageBand on his iPhone whenever inspiration strikes, stating, “GarageBand has become essential to me; when I hear something, I need to capture it. I just open it on my iPhone, play the melody, and can even develop a whole song.”
This spirit of creative exploration also thrives in the coding classes, where students like Donte Allen, 14, merge their love for music with the technological skills they’re acquiring.
Allen has cherished music since infancy. “My dad has a photo of me at six months old with a trumpet in my car seat,” he recalls with a grin.
However, coding has introduced him to new creative paths.
“The Swift curriculum teaches you essentials, which can lead to so much more,” he enthuses. “You can create apps, design games, and tell your stories… Both music and Swift boost my creativity.”
This exposure to a blend of creative and technological fields, often unveiling surprising connections, is the goal of the center’s faculty.
“These students crave this kind of education,” asserts Dr. Dickerson, who plans to introduce podcasting classes next. “But without the opportunity, they won’t experience it. This also applies to music and everything else we offer here. We’re dedicated to providing them with new experiences.”
Amidst the excitement surrounding the Superdome, students from Arts New Orleans are finalizing their own project. Their garden-themed mural, adorning an exterior wall of the Orleans Justice Center along Interstate 10, tells the stories of formerly incarcerated locals and spreads a message of hope to the community.
The expansive 6,600-square-foot mural was envisioned by participants in the Young Artist Movement (YAM), an arts education program at Arts New Orleans designed for youth aged 14 to 22. Through YAM, founded in 2016, local youth learn mural-making techniques from guest artists and create their projects throughout the city. The participants will also oversee the mural’s installation.
The design process began in the Procreate app on iPad, where 19 students crafted the digital images that will grace the mural’s panels. Lead artists Journey Allen, Gabrielle Tolliver, and Jade Meyers then coordinated the final designs, sending them to a mural cloth company for printing on large sheets of mural fabric. Following that, the pieces will be painted and installed with a specialized gel medium.
Allen, who serves as Arts New Orleans’ director of youth education, appreciates witnessing the growth of the students. “It’s satisfying to see those who are initially intimidated by the materials begin to open up; their artwork turns into a means of sharing their stories,” she reflects. “Some have never drawn or painted before, and now they are creating this immense mural. They ask eagerly, ‘When’s our next project?’”
For certain young artists, the project has a deeper significance—they joined YAM through its arts diversion initiative, an alternative to prosecution for youth facing low-level, nonviolent charges. Founded in 2021, this program harnesses the healing and restorative power of art, aiming for participants to have their charges dismissed upon completion.
This spring, Arts New Orleans is launching a separate arts diversion program to address the unique needs of these participants. “There are crucial conversations that need to happen, which can’t occur among the broader YAM group, consisting of individuals not directly affected by the criminal justice system,” explains Allen. “Providing them with their own program affords them the chance to grow and rise above their circumstances.”
The concept for YAM and its arts diversion initiative originated from retired Judge Arthur Hunter and Xavier University professor Ron Bechet, who is also an artist. Hunter, through his experiences as a police officer, lawyer, and judge in New Orleans, witnessed the issues that lead young people into the criminal justice system and recognized the power of art as an alternative route.
“It’s about more than just art — it represents economic opportunity too, allowing them to earn a living through their talents,” expresses Hunter, a board member at Arts New Orleans. “This aspect is equally important as showcasing beautiful artwork.”
Hunter believes the mural’s unveiling is perfectly timed. “This project will not only serve as a culmination but represents the beginning of more artistic expressions throughout the city, showcasing what the youth of New Orleans are capable of,” he concludes.
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