Free Art Programs in NYC for Kids and Teens

NYC’s FREE art programs are one of the main reasons my family endures the challenges of raising kids in NYC. Whether your kids are into making theater, music, or fine art, there are myriad art programs in NYC that offer excellent training—and some are 100% FREE. Admittedly, these no-cost, audition-based performing and fine art programs are competitive, but they can be life-changing for talented, motivated teens. Don’t worry if your kid doesn’t get in the first time: Most of these organizations accept new participants annually, and sometimes it takes a few tries. As the mother of an art- and theater-loving daughter, I speak from experience!

Read on to find out how to apply to these FREE art programs in New York City. Deadlines for fall are coming up fast! You’ll find more enriching programs for kids and teens, including our top picks for musical theater classes in NYC in our New York City Guide to Kids’ Classes.

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The Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus – Lincoln Center

Ages 7 to 18

Fill out this interest form to schedule an audition. While kids can participate through high school graduation, they must apply to the program between ages 7 and 10.

Imagine, your child performing at the Met! It could happen with the FREE Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus. Beginners learn opera appreciation and singing skills for the big stage, while participants in the Advanced Class are able to audition for roles in the Met’s productions. This program is demanding and a twice a week commitment, not including mainstage performances. Best for passionate and powerhouse vocalists.

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The TADA! Youth Theater Resident Youth Ensemble does more than put on top-notch productions. Photo by Camiryn Dorlinn Simpson

TADA! Youth Theater Resident Youth Ensemble – Chelsea

Open to ages 8 to 18

Auditions are held every fall. Sign up for TADA!’s email list to be alerted when 2023 audition dates are set.

While TADA! offers many wonderful classes and camps for a fee, the organization also runs the audition-based Resident Youth Ensemble, a FREE year-round musical theater training, performance, and youth development program composed of approximately 60 NYC-area kids. Members have the chance to perform in two or three original family musicals every season, and they also attend no-cost acting, singing, and dancing classes. High schoolers in the program can apply for jobs at TADA!, and there are mentorship opportunities as well as social events for members of all ages. Founded in 1984, TADA! has many well-known alumni, including Jordan Peele, Ricki Lake, and Kerry Washington. But fame isn’t the goal of the Resident Youth Ensemble. It’s about helping kids come into their own. TADA! was a lifeline for my goofy, show tune-loving daughter for the seven years she was a member. And she didn’t just perform—TADA! had her making props, too.

MCC Theater Youth Company – Midtown West

Open to NYC public high school students ages 14 to 19

Auditions held the week of October 16, 2023. Fill out this registration form to be added to the invite list.

Run by the lauded Off-Broadway company MCC Theater, this FREE program for NYC public high school students offers training in performing and playwriting. While there are four divisions, only two are open to all. In The Performance Lab, participants hone their acting skills through weekly workshops in improvisation, scene study, movement, and voice, and ultimately devise original shorts that are presented in the spring. Students in The Playwriting Lab learn about monologue, dialogue, setting, conflict, and character, and their works are performed by professional actors at a summer festival. Interested kids attend two audition dates in October for both programs, with instructors making the final placement decisions.

Ballet Tech: The NYC Public School for Dance – Union Square

Open to grades 4 to 8

Open auditions are held in the spring. Visit the Ballet Tech website in late 2023 to register.

Ballet Tech isn’t an extracurricular program, it’s a full-fledged public school for talented aspiring dancers. Co-founded in 1978 by renowned dancer-choreographer Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech is an audition-based institution that offers FREE pre-professional dance training as well as traditional academics to students in grades 4 to 8. Most students audition in third grade through Ballet Tech’s Introduction to Ballet program held in 200 public elementary schools. However, if it’s not offered at your child’s school, there are also open auditions every spring. Warning: This is not for dancing dilettantes! It’s rigorous daily training.

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Kids at CAT Youth Theatre learn the art of performance and playwriting through its audition-free program. Photo courtesy of Baruch Performing Arts

CAT Youth Theatre – Midtown West

Open to grades 6 to 12

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, first come, first served. No audition necessary. Click here to apply.

This FREE youth theater program is divided into two age-based divisions: Junior Youth Theatre for middle schoolers and CAT Youth Theater for high school students. Both groups meet weekly to play theater games, do improv, and collaborate on socially relevant original shows written by and starring the participants. Approximately 70 tweens and teens devise engaging work that explores issues facing their generation. I’ve seen CAT shows take on climate change, social justice, and gender identity with insight, intelligence, and humor. Interested kids just fill out an application, no audition necessary.

Roundabout Youth Ensemble – Midtown West

Open to NYC public high school students

The program begins on October 2. Fill out this info form to learn about September auditions.

Another celebrated Off-Broadway troupe, the Roundabout Theatre Company, runs the Roundabout Youth Ensemble, a FREE after-school and summer program for NYC public high school students that has three distinct tracks: performance, tech and design, and playwriting. Participants engage in weekly workshops and hands-on projects, connect with theater industry pros, and attend Roundabout shows as a group. At the end of the school year, the ensemble presents staged readings in Roundabout’s Black Box Theatre ahead of a full-fledged summer production.

92NY Recanati-Kaplan Program for Excellence in the Arts – Upper East Side

Open to ages 7 to 17

Applications open in the spring for the next school year. Visit the 92NY website starting in April 2024 for application info.

The 92nd Street Y is well known for its incredible art programs for kids and grown-ups, and RK Scholars get to take them for FREE. The Recanati-Kaplan Program for Excellence in the Arts offers merit-based scholarships in art, dance, music, and musical theater for talented youngsters. Each discipline has its own application requirements, but all ask for a brief essay, a teacher recommendation, and a portfolio or in-person audition. Once accepted, RK Scholars take weekly classes (the frequency depends on the art form: My daughter had two fine art courses per week, but dancers trained five to six days a week) and meet regularly with their mentors. There are also field trips, performance and exhibition opportunities, and help applying to arts high schools and colleges. Participants must reapply annually and unexcused absences are not tolerated.

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Open Stage Project aims to close the gender gap in backstage jobs.

Open Stage Project: Act 2 – Midtown West

Open to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors who identify as female (trans or cis) or nonbinary

Applications for the 2023-24 school year were due on August 1. However, interested teens can email info@openstageproject.org to see if joining this fall is still possible.

Closing the gender gap in backstage jobs in theater, film, and TV is the mission of the Open Stage Project. Founded in 2018 by female entertainment industry professionals, the nonprofit offers multiple initiatives, but Act 2 is its FREE year-long, application-based mentorship program for high schoolers who identify as female or nonbinary. In addition to monthly meetings where participants network with women who work as stage managers, technicians, wardrobe assistants, prop makers, etc., there are field trips to costume and set design shops, and outings to Broadway shows followed by talkbacks with members of the cast and crew. My daughter participated last year and she’s now interested in pursuing prop making as a career. Once they graduate high school, Act 2 alumni are invited to apply for Act 3, which provides paid apprenticeship opportunities.

The Cooper Union’s Saturday Program – East Village

Open to NYC public high school students

Applications are due Thursday, August 31. Click here to apply.

One of the most prestigious art institutions in the country, The Cooper Union, offers FREE Saturday classes for NYC public high school students in architecture, digital media/photography, drawing, graphic design, painting, and sculpture, as well as senior design studio and senior visual art studio for participants prepping their college portfolios. Classes run every Saturday from 10am-5pm throughout the school year, and intense art-making is enhanced with field trips to galleries, museums, and cultural institutions. Submitting artwork with your application is encouraged though not required. Participants must reapply every semester.

Tip: In addition to these FREE programs, many organizations that do charge for classes offer need-based scholarships. It’s always smart to inquire about sliding-scale tuition—it literally costs nothing to ask!

And remember, these are just school-year programs. In the summer, there are lots of other FREE arts opportunities, including audition- or application-based programs at Wingspan Summer Conservatory, The Wooster Group Summer Institute, The Summer Arts Institute, the TDF Young Playwrights Summer Program, the American Folk Art Museum’s Youth Art Connection, Stella Adler Studio of Acting’s Summer Shakespeare, and New York Theatre Workshop’s intergenerational theatre program Mind the Gap. Deadlines are next winter and spring, so look for more information as those deadlines approach.