“The world of actor training is infinitely richer, deeper, and more humane with Free Street in it.  Free Street is able to perform with great success the miracle of art education, to humanize through self-expression and craft. The fact that Free Street seeks to give this gift away for free to those who can't otherwise afford it at a time when the federal, state and city budgets for such education are corroding, makes Free Street all the more vital to America and to the world of actor training.”

Tom Oppenhiem, President and Director Stella Adler Studio of Acting, NYC

We are not developing community- we are developing a healthy community.

At Free Street we think of community in the same way a biologist would think about an ecosystem. A community that is cut off from others or a single farmer's corn field will be a system that takes great energy from within to sustain itself.The opposite example of a stable long lasting system would be multi-use community center or a deciduous forest.

A deciduous forest with overlapping communities of trees, bugs, animals, birds, brush, flowers and many other life forms is going to be very stable. This 3-D overlapping community will be able to withstand considerable stress within itself.

Free Street does not draw lines around people and say "this is our community". Rather than separating into narrow notions of 'community' we seek mutual acceptance through creative endeavor.
We learn to love each other by working together. We learn creativity is the organic language of individual genius, civic engagement, and collective joy.

Free Street enters long-term partnerships because substantive change takes time. Over time you can stumble, make mistakes, even insult each other, and be able to work through it to grow respect and love. In partnerships with our youth participants, our emerging artists, our teaching artists, and colleague organizations, we all change, we all move forward, we all evolve.

A singular separated community of people is just a stepping stone into a healthy interactive community.

A healthy interactive community is just a stepping stone to a healthy society.

Since 1969 Free Street has put this concept into action.

Free Street's alumni have put this concept into their muscles and into their children's muscles.