Project YIELD
Museum of Children's Art

Before each performance, participants engage in a Praise Circle to promote teamwork.

Photo: Trina M. Fields

The Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) is dedicated to making the arts a fundamental part of the lives of all children. The third largest arts organization in Oakland, MOCHA has been recognized for its model partnerships with schools, public and private institutions, and other arts agencies. It is known for its programs built on the integration of the arts with best practices in education and youth development and for its extensive investment in evaluation and assessment as tools for sustaining effective programming.

These characteristics are manifest in Project YIELD (Youth in Education and Leadership Development), MOCHA's comprehensive after-school arts education and youth development program. Local professional artists teach classes in the visual, literary, performing, media, and public arts using a curriculum that is linked to the academic school day and responsive to school district learning standards, as well as to new and emerging curricula and learning theories. This extended-day program takes place at a school site to reinforce the connection between in-school and out-of-school learning.

In addition to after-school arts education, Project YIELD has a community and youth development component developed in conjunction with a paid advisory team of artists, youth, parents, and community members. Through exhibitions, performances, and mentoring with professional artists, the youth develop artistic excellence, talent, and leadership skills. They create public artworks for the benefit of the community, including street pole banners that promote positive youth voices; public art messages against violence posted on buses, kiosks, and bus shelters; an exhibition of photographic biographies of community leaders; and a collaborative mural that reflects the contributions of individuals to the community.

MOCHA believes that a variety of ongoing internal and external evaluations and assessments of youth development, academic, and artistic outcomes are critical to delivering exemplary programs. Intensive program evaluations demonstrate impressive results: Fifty percent of youth participating in Project YIELD improved in-school attendance; 49 percent increased their basic skills and problem-solving scores on standardized tests in reading; and 43 percent achieved similar improvements in math. Because of MOCHA's successful work, the Oakland Unified School District is supporting MOCHA's expansion into five more school sites.