KID smART unveils new Center for Arts & Education facility in historic Bayou Roads neighborhood

Written By Alicia Vial

The vibrant and accessible hub creates a permanent home for arts education

NEW ORLEANS – Today, KID smART, a local nonprofit focused on arts integration, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony unveiling the KID smART Center for Arts & Education. This new Center, located at 2533 Columbus St. in the heart of the historic Bayou Road neighborhood, enables the nonprofit to expand its programming, create jobs and access to the arts for community members of all ages across New Orleans. 

“The opening of the KID smART Center for Arts & Education marks an exciting new chapter for our organization,” said Elise Gallinot Goldman, executive director of KID smART. “This Center allows us to expand our reach by more than 250%, creating a permanent home for arts education and ensuring that students, educators and community members have access to creative, high-quality learning experiences.”

While the physical doors are now open, the organization remains focused on the long-term sustainability of the Center's offerings.

“Opening this beautiful space is a monumental achievement, but the heart of our mission lies in the programming that will happen within these walls,” said Krystal Hardy Allen, Board Chair of KID smART. “To fully realize the Center's potential and provide consistent, high-impact arts education for our community, we invite all of our supporters to help us via spreading the good news of our Center's opening, supporting any of our ongoing and future fundraising efforts, and partnering with us to ensure our amazing programs remain vibrant and accessible for years to come.”

The KID smART Center for Arts & Education features multiple visual arts studios, a dance and movement studio, podcasting studio, performing arts studio and flexible training spaces allowing the nonprofit to offer exciting new programming to its suite of services. Committed to creating environments that are inherently accessible to everyone, the Center features adaptable furniture, elevators and expanding entryways to ensure everyone has access to joyful learning.

The new Center not only focuses programming on students and teachers but also provides opportunities for individuals of all ages. From the earliest stages of planning, reaching community members across generations has been a central goal for KID smART. Once the full complement of programs is implemented, KID smART hopes to serve every generation, from its youngest to its eldest. The nonprofit remains committed to fostering joyful learning at every stage of life.

The construction of the building was funded by donations to the Creativity at the Center Campaign, KID smART's $5.5 million comprehensive campaign, which will also fund the purchase of the building and future programming and sustainability. Today, KID smART announced that the campaign is halfway complete and invited the community to help make their vision a reality for New Orleans.

For more information about the KID smART Center for Arts & Education and to learn more about the Creativity at the Center Campaign, visit www.kidsmart.org/capital-campaign.  

The KID smART Center for Arts & Education was designed by architecture and interior design firm EskewDumezRipple and constructed by Ryan Gootee General Contractors. The mural on the outside of the Center is by Eternal Seeds, an organization that empowers young and emerging artists with the tools to become leaders and visionaries for a more equitable and creative world.

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About KID smART
Over the last two decades, KID smART has collaborated with more than 40 New Orleans public schools to blend the arts into academic lessons to make classrooms more effective and joyful places to learn. Through full-year artist residencies, students in KID smART Creative Schools prove to grow academically, artistically and emotionally. KID smART also partners with national thought leaders, including Harvard's Project Zero Classroom, to incorporate best practices in arts and education into its program model.

Alicia Vial

Alicia Vial is a New Orleans native with more than a decade of experience elevating client stories and leading crisis response. As the senior director of strategy, Alicia acts as a leader within the Gambel Communications team ensuring each agency team member is positioned to deliver strategic public relations services that meet the highest standards of the industry. In addition to supporting the agency’s long-term business growth and development, she coordinates day-to-day account services and oversees strategic direction while staying abreast of best practices and industry trends to provide innovative solutions to meet client’s needs.

Before joining Gambel Communications, Alicia served as the communications director for the Louisiana SPCA, the oldest and largest animal welfare organization in Louisiana that impacts more than 74,000 animals per year. During her nearly eight-year tenure, Alicia oversaw numerous crises, served on national communication taskforces, oversaw all aspects of internal and external relations and worked alongside the development department to raise critical funding. Prior to that, she worked in the fast-paced New Orleans hospitality industry focusing on digital public relations for multiple hotels.

Alicia is a member of the Public Relations Association of Louisiana (PRAL), Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF), a board member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) New Orleans Chapter and a member of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute. An accredited public relations practitioner (APR), Alicia is also certified in crisis communications, organizational leadership, content marketing and social media.

A well respected and trusted public relations practitioner, Alicia has been recognized by SPRF as a ‘Senior Practitioner of the Year’. Dubbed early on in her career as one to watch, she also received the ‘Rising Star’ award by PRAL and was profiled in St. Charles Avenue Magazine as part of their Young Bloods series. Most recently, she was recognized at PRSA’s annual Fleurish Awards and received four Awards of Excellence for her work along with the ‘Plate Spinner’ award for her efforts on the board of directors for the chapter.

An LSU graduate, Alicia received a bachelor's degree in mass communications with a concentration in public relations and minors in business administration and leadership development. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on public relations topics, most recently presenting at the Jefferson Economic Development Commission and SPRF annual conference.

When Alicia is not at work, you can find her at the ballpark with her three boys or cheering on the Tigers in Death Valley.

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