Welcome to Bronx Arts Pathways: Performing Arts application. The goal of this year’s festival is to include as many schools as possible to showcase a piece from their Performing Arts programs. Families will have the opportunity to see arts programs (by performing arts discipline) in Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, and High Schools that they may want their children to attend. This is an opportunity as an arts educator to advertise your program to families in the Bronx. This year’s festival will take place at The Andrew Freeman Home at 1125 Grand Concourse Bronx NY.
EXTENDED Application Deadline: March 13, 2026
Festival Dates (all at the Andrew Freedman Home, 1125 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY):
-Tuesday, April 28: Band and Modern Band
-Wednesday, April 29: Chorus, Musical Theater and Theater
-Thursday, April 30: Dance and Orchestra
PLEASE NOTE that we will ask Modern Band, Theater, and Dance to arrive for sound checks as early as 3 PM. Performances will begin at 5:30 PM on each evening.
Please complete the form for the performance you wish to enter in the festival. Answers cannot be edited once you have submitted this form, however you are able to save a draft prior to submitting, so please review your answers when inputting.
The spelling submitted on the application will be the spelling in the catalog, playbill, and/or title card. Please double check the spelling/capitalization of student names, school names, principal names, etc.
Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
While it is not mandatory to submit a video, do not send submission videos via email as they will not be considered as part of a complete submission. Any questions, email BronxBAF@gmail.com.
Tips on Creating a Virtual Audition Video:
The Citywide Theatre office has a video titled “Recording Your Performance Presented by BerkleeNYC” on the following link:
ELIGIBILITY
- Music, Theater and Dance performances from Bronx students in grades Pre-K to 12
- Each Performing Arts specialist may submit up to 1 (one) performance. You may submit from any genre.
- The performance should represent the best student-produced piece from this academic year, and of the work you plan to perform.
*(Please note- Dance submissions do not have to be student-choreographed)
- Please refer to the grade appropriate Blueprint Benchmarks to help guide decision making regarding submission choices.
- ALL FINAL PERFORMANCES will run 5-7 minutes in length (please do not submit videos longer than 7 minutes).
-Please submit videos that are of the submitted piece itself. Do not submit full assembly videos.
CURATION:
- Due to space limitations and occupancy restrictions, it is not possible to guarantee representation of every school. Our committee will do its best to be inclusive and assure even representation amongst Districts 7-12 , District 75, and District 79.
- Individual expressiveness, technical proficiency as well as thoughtfulness in answering the Student Reflection Questions will be considered.
Welcome to Bronx Arts Pathways application for our Visual Arts Showcase. The goal of this year’s festival is to include as many schools as possible so they can showcase a piece from their Visual Arts programs. Families will have the opportunity to see arts programs in Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, and High Schools that they may want their children to attend. This year's festival will take place at the Lehman College Art Gallery at 250 Bedford Park Blvd Bronx, NY.
Application Deadline: March 13, 2026
Festival Date: Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026
Please complete a form for the student artwork you wish to enter in the festival. Answers cannot be edited once you have submitted this form however you can save a draft prior to submitting, so please review your answers when inputting. If accepted, the spelling will be the spelling in the catalog, playbill, and/or title card. Please double check the spelling/capitalization of student names, school names, principal names, etc. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
Do not send submission videos, images, or student reflections via email as they will not be considered as part of a complete submission. Any questions? Please email BronxBAF@gmail.com.
ELIGIBILITY:
- 2D, 3D artwork and video from Bronx students in grades Pre-K to 12
- Each Visual Arts Specialist may submit 1 (one) art work per school level. For example: If you teach all grades in a K-8 school, then you may submit 1 from the Middle School level and 1 from the Elementary level.
- Please ensure the artwork you are submitting to the festival is not a duplicate artwork submitted to PS Art.
- Have 1 (one) high resolution JPEG image file(s) of your student artwork, no larger than 2MB, ready for upload (3-D works, you may upload up to three (3) images), this will be the image used on the website if the work is selected.
- Artwork should represent the best student-created classroom work produced this academic year.
- Please refer to the grade appropriate Blueprint Benchmarks to help guide decision making regarding submission choices.
ARTWORK SUBMISSION TIPS:
- Position the camera lens directly in front of the artwork, parallel to its surface, to prevent distortion
- Focus & Exposure: Tap the phone screen to set focus and exposure (AE/AF Lock), then gently press the shutter.
- No Zoom: Avoid digital zoom to maintain quality - get closer.
- Take several shots to ensure you have a good one.
- Make sure the entire artwork is in the shot.
- Do not shoot with a window behind the artwork to avoid bright light in frame.
- Natural light from a window will look good, so if possible bring the artwork closer to a window and shoot with YOUR back to the window so that the sunlight is on the artwork. This will work best for sculptures.
CURATION:
- Due to space limitations, it is not possible to guarantee representation of every school. Our committee will do its best to assure even representation amongst Districts 7-12, District 75 , and District 79.
- Individual expressiveness, technical proficiency as well as thoughtfulness in answering the Student Reflection Questions will be considered
The Visual & Performing Arts will be presented
@ El Museo del Barrio
Tuesday, June 2nd - Music, all ensembles, all grades
Wednesday, June 3rd - Dance and Theatre, all grades
Application Deadline: Sunday, March 15th, 2026
Now in its 12th year, the MBAF will continue the combined experience of a Visual Arts Exhibit and Performing Arts Showcase into a 2-day Arts Pathways Experience at El Museo del Barrio. The NYCPS Arts Office defines an "arts pathway" as a series of learning opportunities available to students from Pre K through 12th grade that provides meaningful, rigorous, coherent, and continuous arts education within their district or borough. We will continue to build on last year’s experience of using this Festival to:
- offer school communities a strategic opportunity to present student artistic work to a wide swath of audience members, including potential incoming students.
- illuminate for and educate parents about potential arts pathway opportunities across school levels and districts within Manhattan.
SO… what does this all mean for you?
WHAT'S NEW?
- Location - El Museo del Barrio. There are multiple performances spaces available; details TBD during adjudication and will be communicated in acceptance emails.
- There will be two days of performances:
June 2nd- Music (Choral, instrumental, band, orchestra,etc.)
June 3rd- Dance /Theatre
- The focus on arts education pathways will continue this year. All participating schools will be asked to highlight arts pathways across school levels in order to help establish connections between districts and across the borough.
- Tech will be done in festival style and will be simplified in comparison to years past.
- Instrumental ensembles may be asked to bring their own amps and monitors.
- If accepted, schools MUST COMMIT to a tech day, date TBD, but will take place during the school day. Please note the tech date may be on a different date than the performances.
- There will be a walkthrough for accepted teachers within a few weeks of the performance night, date TBD.
- Schools who have not applied in the past ten years will be given additional consideration in the adjudication process.
WHAT STAYS THE SAME?
- All applications will be adjudicated by a panel of arts administrators, arts teachers and arts partners.
- All districts 1-6, M75 and M79 will be represented in the final decisions.
- Students must attend a public school located in Manhattan.
- Each school may submit up to three (3) applications. These can include K - 12th grade students in Music, Dance, and Theater ensemble performances. We will not be accepting any solo submissions.
- Complete this form once for each performance you wish to enter in the competition.
- Performances may not exceed 5 minutes and will be cut if they exceed that timeframe.
Teacher Question:
In 3-5 sentences, describe your current arts program. Please include any mission or vision statements you may have. What is one value you wish to pass on to your students during their time in your classroom? Why is this important for them to know?
For technical questions about the application, email support@submittable.com
For content questions, email mvaklinova@schools.nyc.gov