Grandville Avenue Arts and Humanities

The Cook Arts Center offers a wide range of classes and programs in the arts within our four studios: the visual arts studio, the dance studio, our music room, and ceramics studio. Our After School Arts program, Summer Arts & Learning, and Girls Rock Grand Rapids Camp are some of our core programs that provided access to arts classes and activities to over 227 community members this year.

We offer additional programming for high school students with our Teen Leaders program, which provides mentorship and leadership opportunities for teens. Youth have the chance to help lead projects, receive private lessons in the arts, and get support with their acadamic needs. We also partner with local schools to offer classes and workshops during the school day, which includes hosting classrooms at our facilities or sometimes having staff visit the schools to read, lead workshops, or run activities.

The Cook Library Center is an anchor institution in the Grandville Avenue neighborhood, providing a safe space of belonging for many youth and adults throughout the year. General library services such as internet and computer access, printing, and book borrowing are available year-round. Our Cook Library After School program for neighborhood youth provides homework help and tutoring, educational activities, games, and many mentoring opportunities. Over the course of the year, the library had over 1,815 drop-in visits, and 47 youth enrolled in the Cook Library After School program.