Many Buffalonians know who Eric Crittenden is because of his band Crittenden, which some of you may recall headlined Buffalo Homecoming this year. What Crittenden does for his band is only a part of what consumes his time. For the past four years, he has devoted a lot of time, money, and effort into his IMAGE Urban Arts program.
The program is rapidly approaching its fourth year running out of Bennett High School. Crittenden says, “It got started from me touring with The Waz all over the county.” Crittenden says at one point when he was just outside of NYC on the tour, a friend of his asked him to substitute and teach a workshop on song writing. He says he was convinced he wouldn’t like the kids and it wouldn’t go well, but he wound up loving it and was hooked. Before starting IMAGE, Crittenden says he worked for a couple of agencies in city hall, teaching and giving back to the community.
It wasn’t until ten years or so after that initial experience that he sat down with his wife, Ann Marie Crittenden, and said “I’m sick of seeing these kids killing themselves over pot and sneakers.” With that, IMAGE was born and has been a labor of love ever since. IMAGE helps youth through education, performance, and production of urban arts. It provides an outlet for their talent while giving them an opportunity to grow socially and individually. By engaging them after school and over the summer, Crittenden says it helps schools to keep kids in their classes, it brings down the levels of drug abuse and promiscuity, and it raises grades.
IMAGE creates songs and dances and then performs them at schools all over the city. The songs help demystify pop culture – namely the hip-hop world. Crittenden says that “rap guys preach nonsense to kids” and that if he were to take the stage and tell an audience of impressionable youth to not listen, he would be ignored. Crittenden says that if “their peers say it’s nonsense in a cool way, it really brings it home. Hip-hop is everything to young people. There are so many different aspects that we can develop as an urban arts program. It’s going to provide knowledge to these kids.”
Crittenden is holding two events for IMAGE. One on August 6th and another following on the 7th. The 6th is a special presentation and demonstration presented by Crittenden with the help of Mark Goldman. Crittenden wants to take his urban arts program to the next level and is looking for the funds to do it. “We want to partner up with the politicians, businesses, and foundation trustees – people who have the means to fund this. The initiative on paper is a good one. We feel like Buffalo in general is on this hub of progression. There seems to be a shift in mentality. We feel like now is a good time. Since change seems to be on everyone’s priority list, this is our part.”
IMAGE wants to become its own 501c3 and cement its presence in the local community while spreading to other area middle and high schools. Since it focuses on young adults between the ages of 12 and 17, it takes their energy and in ten weeks creates a unique performance. To help spread this program, Crittenden is looking for a start-up cost of $100,000. Their goals are lofty, but possible. They need a van or a bus for traveling performances, a PA system with a wireless microphone, they want to perform around three times a week across the city and WNY, and they need their own independent space for administrative, production, and performance purposes.
Crittenden even envisions working with the Board of Education to give kids involved in the program school credit and working with local colleges to help recruit kids into college programs after they graduate from high school. Crittenden says if and when the program grows, kids could be learning about web art, flash animation, stage design, sound engineering, choreographing, lighting, PR/marketing, flyer design, and more and colleges could take kids and recruit them into majors that they already have experience in.
Right now, IMAGE has been running on minimal funding – that means out of pocket money, small donations, and alumni grants not exceeding $500. They have a three person staff and they meet every Wednesday. However, Crittenden remains optimistic that his plans for IMAGE are achievable. He says many of the kids who started out in the program four years ago have graduated, but still remain in the area to help the program and mentor the kids just starting out. Crittenden says, “Our recent growth and awareness in the wouldn’t have been possible without Mark Goldman and Rumble Seed Marketing, and general product support from New Era Cap.” Crittenden says that on August 7th, their four-year anniversary, they will be proud to sell a limited edition IMAGE 59/50 cap as well as their first every studio-recorded CD.
The informational session about the IMAGE Urban Arts program is August 6th in the King Urban Life Development Center at 983 Genesee Street from 6 PM until 9 PM. The performance takes place on August 7th, also at the King Urban Life Development Center, also from 6 PM until 9 PM, and is called “Life Stories – An Inner-City Youth Opera.” It is a community fund drive and the suggested donation to watch the performance is $5. If you would like to learn more about IMAGE Urban Arts, visit their website, check out their MySpace, or send an e-mail to Crittenden.
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