Bridging Generational Gaps Through Music, Art, Dance, and Storytelling
In 2025, Holy Family Institute launched the new Artful Spirits program, supported by a grant from the Lilly Endowment. The goal of the program is to revitalize children’s participation in worship through dynamic and joy-filled arts activities. The program is rooted in Pittsburgh’s Black church community, with several churches from the historic Hill District participating in its first year of programming. At Artful Spirits, children ages 7-12 are invited to explore faith through color, texture, movement, music, and story. They are encouraged to wonder, ask questions, and express what they’re discovering about God, themselves, and the world around them.
Like many of Holy Family’s programs, Artful Spirits partners with other organizations in the community to deepen and enrich their programming. In addition to the participating churches, two prominent organizations are contributing their expertise in the arts: Hill Dance Academy Theatre (HDAT) and Point Park University. HDAT has operated in the Hill District for more than 20 years, providing training in Black Dance traditions, history, culture, and aesthetics to students ages 3-18. Point Park is Pittsburgh’s only Downtown university, offering degrees in a broad range of areas, including their renowned Conservatory of Performing Arts.
In December, Artful Spirits launched with an event at Point Park’s Pittsburgh Playhouse, a state-of-the-art performing arts center in the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh. Attendees got to know one another and the program while enjoying a performance and a look “behind the curtain” at the Playhouse. Parents, grandparents, and children alike were excited to see the breadth of opportunity available in the arts, and to see the experience and resources that Point Park will bring to Artful Spirits.
On March 21, Artful Spirits will host its second event, a dance performance in partnership with HDAT called “A Celebration of Goodness: A Celebration of Hope and Culture.” The event will preview the program’s curriculum and highlight its ties to the Hill District, taking place at HDAT’s Morgan-Lee Arts Center and featuring the Pittsburgh CAPA High School Gospel Choir along with congregants of three nearby churches: Bethel AME Church, Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, and Wesley Center AME Zion Church.
Participating churches are at the heart of the Artful Spirits program. Church leaders are involved in high-level decision making, ensuring that programming and curriculum meets the needs of their congregation. The program is intergenerational by design, encouraging experiences to be shared between children and adults and allowing them to learn, create, and reflect together in a flexible format that adapts to highlight their congregation.
Artful Spirits adds a joyful new facet to Holy Family’s programming and expands our impact in the Pittsburgh community. The program invites community members to take an active role, creating spaces where children and adults can embrace creativity as a vital part of worship and honor the rich traditions of their church. As the program grows, Holy Family hopes that it will create stronger, more connected communities.
