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NYU Abu Dhabi Senior Collaborates with Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority to Promote Local Arts Education

Press Release

New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), hosted a presentation and talk this week by NYUAD senior Bouthayna Baltaji focused on finding ways to inspire young people to become more active in the arts. The discussion, held at Manarat al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi centered around Baltaji’s final year capstone project, entitled “Bina’a Al Bee’ah Al Mahalee’yah Al Fen’nee’yah” (The Building/Creation of the Local Art Community).

Baltaji's senior year capstone project examined the importance of placing artists in schools in order to engage and impact young audiences. By holding workshops with students in two Abu Dhabi schools, Al Raha International School and Al Yasat Private School, Baltaji hoped to inspire children and encourage a life-long interest in the arts. The education team from TCA Abu Dhabi provided mentorship and support to Baltaji as part of their initiative to reach out to young students through artist collaborations.

Through this experience, Baltaji, who will graduate from NYUAD on May 25th as a member of the inaugural class, hopes that both the children and their parents will begin to gain an interest in the arts and understand the importance of placing arts at the heart of student learning. The student works created in the workshops are on display in Fanr café and in Studio 2.

Baltaji explained: "This project is my endeavor in assisting and contributing to Abu Dhabi in its initiative to educate people on the aesthetic value, cultural significance, and global perspective explored in the creative process of art. Recognizing the need for children to feel that galleries and museums are engaging and welcoming environments, I decided to direct my capstone project towards improving arts education and building an established audience by merging art and culture."

Committed to directly impacting young people, teachers, students, artists, and adult audiences, TCA Abu Dhabi actively supports engaging young people in the practice of making art and provides unique opportunities for children to work directly with artists both in schools and throughout the Emirate’s community art centers in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

About TCA Abu Dhabi
The Authority’s mission is to promote the heritage, culture and traditions of Abu Dhabi emirate worldwide. Its activities are designed to support the emirate’s evolution into a world-class, sustainable destination that makes a unique contribution to the global cultural landscape while conserving its singular character and ecosystem.

About NYU Abu Dhabi

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 115 countries and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.