Mr. Tom Finkelpearl
Commissioner
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
31 Chambers Street
New York, New York 10007

Dear Mr. Finkelpearl,

Midori and Friends is a nonprofit organization that provides high quality musical education programs to NYC students in grades PreK- 12. Many of these children have very little or no access to arts at all, and our mission is to provide them with the art of music where they can enjoy and bring their individual talents to life. We lead these programs in schools, community organizations, and hospitals across all the boroughs of New York City. With music, we have crafted a way to spark the minds of these children and help them experience something outside of the classroom, something that gives them excitement.

Our organization is known for two programs that we offer both during and after school. The first one is 12 Notes, which is part of a consecutive program that instructs instrumental and vocal music provided by professional musicians. The second great program that we offer is Signature Concert & Workshop Series, which is a performance by many acclaimed ensembles, integrated with classroom workshops that give the children an excellent hands on experience where they learn by listening and working with our best instructors.

We believe that every child should be offered a craft that he/she loves and or course, not every child will favor the art of music. That is why Midori and Friends wants to open a new door of exploration for the children we serve and provide them with arts and crafts. We want the children to really get involved in art projects, making all sorts of abstract art via their young and colorful imaginations and hopefully take their experience of arts to a whole new level. This is due to the belief that not everyone appreciates music and might find the paper and paintbrush to be more vibrant and amusing.
We have much support from the parents of many of our children as well as support from Weston Arts & Crafts association that can provide us with a several instructors and artists that will make this possible. We have also done extensive research as to how to structure our new plan and set programs with children in conjunction to their musical programs. By giving them a taste of both music and arts, it will enhance their imagination as well as help them create drawings that will demonstrate their hidden talents! We estimate the first year’s cost of this project to be around $30,000, of which almost half will be covered by many parents that appreciate the hard work that we devote to our children. We would like you to consider a proposal for the remainder. The funding will go toward arts equipment that will be necessary to begin the program as well as a implementing an “arts and crafts” section in our current library.

I will be calling shortly to seek an appointment to discuss this project with your company, as I have many more undiscussed ideas that could be of great help to this program.
Sincerely, Michael Yunatan