Sitar Arts Center

Our mission is to offer possibilities that transform the lives of children and teens born into a world of unequal access to opportunity. We engage children and teens in the highest quality visual, performing and digital arts. We teach the arts so that our students learn about themselves and gain critical life skills. We create community for students and their families. And we are an untiring voice on their behalf.

Each semester, more than 80% of the Center’s school-aged children are from households with low incomes. The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities recognized Sitar with the prestigious National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award; in 2015, Sitar Arts Center received The Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management; and in 2017 Sitar received the Mayor's Arts Award.

Fostering personal and artistic growth through the visual arts, music, drama, dance, digital arts and creative writing, the Center offers after-school, weekend and summer classes to more than 900 students a year, 80 percent of whom come from low-income households.

More than 100 talented artists volunteer their time each week to teach and inspire the Center's students in a state-of-the-art facility. Together with a network of premier partnering arts organizations such as the Washington Ballet,the DC Jazz Festival, the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington Performing Arts Society, our passionate volunteer faculty makes a lasting impact on our students' lives.

Bringing high-quality arts education to families who would otherwise not have these opportunities, Sitar Arts Center relies on charitable contributions to ensure that no family is ever turned away because of inability to pay. To register for classes, volunteer or learn more about the Center, please call 202-797-2145 or visit www.sitarartscenter.org.