Listen
- Workshop Houston's Katy Goodman and Reginald Hatter outside their current Sauer Street location in the Third Ward.
- A student and instructor are reviewing the styles from the Golden Globes inside Workshop Houston's Style Shop
- Students at Workshop Houston are preparing for a dance conference in Dallas.
The bass pouring out of an old frame house in Houston's Third Ward is so strong that it's rattling the windows. Inside, kids are learning music production at Workshop Houston, an after-school program devoted to bringing education and arts to students. The organization just met its goal of raising nearly $2 million for a new facility.
“We have a building that we're very squeezed into right now," says Katy Goodman, Workshop Houston's interim Executive Director. "It's a huge deal for the staff and it's a huge deal for the students. I think just for Third Ward in general, it's going to be a great resource."
The current spot accommodates about 36 students a day, but the new one will be twice the size and hold more than a hundred. They'll finally have a soundproof music studio, plus bigger spaces for tutoring, fashion design, and dance classes.
Fourteen-year-old Toni Bryant has been coming to Workshop Houston for three years.
"I get to come and just be myself and dance," Bryant says. "It's just a safe place for you to come, you know, it's like a family here."
Groundbreaking for the new building is set for Sunday, January 15th.