Ifetayo is a magical place.  Dance is just the beginning.  Families come for deep legacy and leave with audacity that transforms lives. They come to celebrate heritage and leave with fluencies that call to the future; creative culture has always innovated society.

37 years ago a small circle of mothers and fathers, healers and promise keepers stoked the fire ignited by our founder Kwayera Archer Cunningham. We are now an ever-growing circle touching more than 2000 children every year, and our culturally-powered innovation hub is a light that cannot cool. It has guided us on our journeys from Brooklyn to Bahia, from Nigeria to Kingston, from Joburg to Harlem.

On the way, we’ve met some of the 1 in 8 children who experience housing insecurity in Brooklyn; but Ifetayo has been a homebase offering trajectory changing art, counseling, community and connection. We know that Brooklyn is the borough with the most children living below the poverty line; but from our economies of collective care – programs, scholarships, grants & resources – Ifetayo invests more than $1M annually into our communities, building ecosystems of hearts, heritage, healing, and power.

As an African centered organization, we have an intersectional approach. Like the crossroads of the Dikenga, like the call and response of our music, our practice is collective, our pedagogy is holistic/integrated, and our impact is a layered poly-rhythm of learning, healing, investing and empowering. We sew a thread of cultural responsiveness and restoration through our core work of arts education and connect it to concentric layers of wellness, thriving and, ultimately, equity.

As our name suggests – in the Yoruba language – “love brings joy”.

We use love to resist and build, to nurture and lead, to restore and reimagine.  And we use it, here and now, to welcome you to the Ifetayo family.

Come for culture, stay for power.

Desirée Gordon

Executive Director

Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy