Vanessa Cervantes

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities

Grandville Avenue Arts and Humanities (GAAH) operates the Cook Arts Center and the Cook Library Center —two facilities that exist for neighbors who live on the southwest side of Grand Rapids. We intentionally foster spaces of belonging where community members are encouraged to use the arts & humanities as tools to express themselves, share their stories, learn, grow, and connect. The Cook Arts Center programs focus on creativity and self-expression, while the Cook Library Center concentrates on learning and storytelling. Populated by a racially and ethnically diverse group of neighbors, the majority of those who live here identify as Latinx, Black, or both. Our neighborhood also has the highest population density of youth in the city of Grand Rapids. Institutional culture has historically marginalized communities of color, and our neighborhood is no exception. At GAAH, we push against that culture and engage with our neighbors through the arts and humanities to cultivate curiosity, creativity, and trusting relationships in ways that validate them as they forge new pathways. GAAH's programs utilize the arts and humanities as tools to support our neighbors in many areas. We provide academic assistance, dance and music classes, storytelling and oral histories, parent support groups, painting and drawing classes, STEM activities, chess clubs, and more. At their core, though, all of GAAH's offerings are built on relationships: we encourage youth to be their authentic selves and reach their full potential so that our neighborhood can flourish.