LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Remarkable is a word used to describe something extraordinary. Something or someone who makes a mark cements a change and in this case, gives a chance.
Pilita Simpson is giving a voice to our youth by providing a safe space by using the arts as a vessel of hope.
It’s not a lesson about hitting the right notes. That comes later. It’s a lesson about finding harmony within yourself and supporting others on their journey.
Pilita Simpson said she formed her non-profit, Positively Arts, out of necessity.
“We needed to create a space where kids have the time and we have the ears to listen,” she said.
She uses visual and performing art as the conduit of change to empower kids who may doubt themselves.
“Feelings of, I am not good enough. I’m not pretty enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not enough,” Simpson said.
She said it’s taken years to create a curriculum that offers a true foundation for transformation.
“I feel like I took everything I learned from my childhood and Disney and Sesame Street and Harvard and I put it in this package that is simply just an extended family,” Simpson said. “Along the way, I discovered the perfect recipe that ensured a child will leave this building feeling more empowered than when they walked in.”
Thirteen-year-old Abby Coeto walked into Positively Arts three years ago as a cancer survivor in remission.
“I love Pilita. She was literally like a savior to me. She came during some of my darkest times and probably brought back a smile that I probably never had before,” Coeto said.
Abby is a talented young singer. But at Positively Arts, it’s not about creating the next superstar.
“Probably 50% of the kids who come here, if you ask them, what you want to be when you grow up, it’s not a performer,” Simpson said.
It’s simply about helping that child find his or her own inner strength and voice.
“When you build that child’s social and emotional development and you create that resilient child, they will be successful in whatever they do,” she said.
“I know it was good for her but, I didn’t know how good it would be for her,” Omar Coeto said about the program.
He said the experience has been life-changing for his daughter.
“I don’t even think it’s about singing or making a great artist because who knows what the future holds for her. What I am seeing is how she’s becoming a better human. She’s so different from where she was before,” he said.
About 70% of the students at Positively Arts are on tuition assistance. Simpson said no one is turned away.
She knows first-hand how transformative the arts can be. She lost her father when she was 13 and eventually found sanctuary in singing.
“I want to be that place so that people don’t have to struggle like my mom did and that kids don’t have to struggle the way that I did.”
In this space, they’re finding balance, striking the right chord, and writing a new chapter. They are not just surviving, they are thriving.
“Every day I wake up I just look at it as a new opportunity to grow, to learn something new,” Coeto said.
“We’re the place that’s turning dreams into plans.”
