Vibe Summer Academy- scholarships available!

Along with so many other non-profits, arts organizations, and local businesses, Vibe of Portland was very impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lock-downs. It hit us right as we were gearing up for our summer camps, usually our busiest season! Unfortunately we suffered the loss of both of their physical studios (SE Division and 57th and St Johns) in the spring of 2020 due to loss of revenue.

Instead of searching for new studio space, Vibe has set about establishing partnerships with other non-profits and like-minded businesses in Portland. We believe that by doing this, we'll reach a wider audience and get back to fulfilling our mission and also support other people and organizations in the community. We've adopted the slogan "together we emerge stronger". We set about looking for organizations who had similar missions and believed in access to arts and music for ALL children and families, and happily we found a few who were excited to become community partners. Our first partner was the Portland Moose Lodge on SE 52nd and Flavel, an absolute community hubspot and dedicated to be of service. We also partnered with a wonderful outdoor pre-school, the Green Tulip Peace and Nature School. The schools founder, Nadine Salama, was eager to partner and their outdoor space was perfect for us to start offering in-person camps over spring break.

We then applied for a grant through the Oregon Community Foundation to run a full program of summer camps, entitled "Vibe Summer Academy: Dreaming Tomorrow", focusing on offering scholarships to youth in the community. We are offering full scholarships to youth in need who live primarily in the Lents, Brentwood Darlington and surrounding SE area. We know from looking at data that East Portland was hit particularly hard by COVID, and we hope to draw some of those families in. Our community partners are East Portland Collective in Lents, Green Tulip Peace and Nature School near Marysville School, and the Portland Moose Lodge in Brentwood Darlington.

We are offering primarily art camps, with varying themes, but there are a few music camps. We are creating a youth musical theatre program titled "Vibe Broadway Kids" and offering 2 weeks of musical theatre camps. At the end of the 9 week schedule, we are holding two mini-band camps for students primarily in middle school and who are enrolled in their school band program. Enrollment is limited to 15.

If you are interested in sending your child to our camps, and would like information about scholarships, please email music@vibepdx.org . We’ll send you a quick form to provide very basic information, and then let us know which camps you’d like to enroll your child in. You’ll then receive the coupon code to register with.

That’s it! We are so excited and proud to be offering these art and music camps all summer long.

Here is the link to our camp schedule: bit.ly/vibesummer21