Spring Events at The Helis Foundation John Scott Center
We’re excited to announce a number of family and child-friendly programs happening at the center this spring, including Prime Time, YALA ArtsPlay™, and our spring Family Fun Day! In addition, on March 19 the center will host the spring issue release party for 64 Parishes magazine. All events are free and open to the public, and more details about each can be found below.
Wednesdays, March 6–April 10
6–7:30 p.m.
Register by texting (929) 246-7955 or emailing [email protected] with your family name and children’s ages.
Prime Time, an initiative of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, brings families together twice a year at schools, libraries, and other community-gathering places for its award-winning reading programs. Beginning March 6, a Prime Time family engagement and reading program will take place at The Helis Foundation John Scott Center every Wednesday for six weeks.
The program taking place at the center, Prime Time Family Reading, is meant for children for ages 6-10 and their families. The program bring families together one night a week for six weeks for reading and discussion, led by a storyteller reading an award-winning children’s book and a scholar leading families through guided discussions of the themes found in the book. The discussion encourages families to personally connect with literature and each other and think beyond shallow considerations of who, what, when, and where by using open-ended questioning to spur discussion.
Prime Time programs begin with dinner and are free for families, and they get to keep the books from the sessions to help build their home libraries. The books being discussed explored during this series can be found here.
Registration is required. Families can text or email program lead Denise Beaulieu-Graham at (929) 246-7955 or [email protected] with the following message to register: “I would like to register [family name] and [number of children and ages].”
Young Audiences of Louisiana ArtsPlay™
Thursdays, March 14–April 18
11:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Young Audiences of Louisiana and The Helis Foundation John Scott Center are pleased to announce the return of YALA Artsplay!™ workshops to the center! The theme for the series is “Take Me Down to the Second Line,” and it is designed for ages three to four years old, though younger and older children will also enjoy the workshop. The workshops take place among the artwork from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursdays beginning March 14.
This series was developed by Young Audiences of Louisiana / Louisiana Wolf Trap Teaching Artist Ja’nese Brooks-Galathe in partnership with the New Orleans African American Museum. It is based on the traditional indigenous culture of New Orleans Second Line and Black Masking Indians.
The workshops are FREE and presented by The Helis Foundation.
Family Fun Day!
Saturday, March 16
11 a.m.–3 p.m.
- 11 a.m. – 1:50 p.m.: Art Making for Children
- 1 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Interactive Prime Time Storysharing and Discussion
- 2 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.: Interactive Jazz Performance by the Panorama Jazz Band
64 Parishes Publication Party
Tuesday, March 19
6–8 p.m.
64 Parishes magazine, the premier magazine of Louisiana history and culture published by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, is celebrating its fifth anniversary and the release of the spring 2024 issue on Tuesday, March 19.
64 Parishes was launched in late 2018 as the new iteration of LEH’s quarterly magazine Louisiana Cultural Vistas, which was merged with KnowLA, LEH’s online encyclopedia of Louisiana. Today, stories from the print magazine and encyclopedia entries, as well as resources for K-12 teachers, can all be found free of charge at 64parishes.org.
Join the 64 Parishes team, Editor-in-Chief Erin Greenwald and Senior Managing Editor Chris Turner-Neal, as they toast the magazine’s contributors, reflect on five years of sharing Louisiana’s stories, and discuss the latest issue.
This event, featuring complimentary beverages and light bites, is free and open to the public. For more information, visit 64parishes.org or follow the event on Facebook.