Our deepest gratitude to the Erie Women’s Fund for choosing the Dafmark Creative Arts Center as its 2025 grant recipient.
Dafmark Youth Wellness Center (DYWC): new Program with the Housing Authority of the City of Erie.
Dafmark Dance Theater will provide a high quality comprehensive after-school and summer recreational program at the John E. Horan Garden Apartments for youth, ages 6 to 18. The program will be centered around health and fitness and will partner with a diverse group of subcontracted professionals in the fields of culinary arts, dance, fitness, a summer soccer program, and martial arts. Additionally, this program will partner Hope on Horse Back to take youth (4th grade & up) monthly to learn how to care for and ride horses. Lastly, Dafmark will partner with Opened Eyes to bring in their LENS program. LENS is a self-reflective model that encourages participants to acknowledge their understanding of self, their diverse community and the world. LENS creates a safe space for participants to broaden their thinking and enhance cultural competence. The LENS program is geared towards children & youth and covers the following topics: Perception, Identity, Empathy & Active Listening, Resilience, Communication.
Dafmark Creative Arts Center: 170 children.
(now in its fifth year) – the center is open yearly from 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM during the school year and 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM during the summer. 10 classes are offered each week. Classes offerings include: dance, music, theater, drumming, painting, mixed media, creative constructions, poetry, stop motion animation, mosaics, photography, printmaking & ceramics. In this photo, DCAC children attended a performance of The Erie Philharmonic Orchestra at the Warner Theater.
Partners in Dance program with Erie Homes for Children & Adults (EHCA).
This program has been running for 23 years and brings biweekly dance lessons to the lives of adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Our annual spring culminating event has the EHCA dancers perform in conjunction with dancers from Dafmark Dance for family, friends, and community.
