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Working with youth in crisis is a tough profession. Bridget Alexander can tell you firsthand. She and her partner Blithe Raines are the co-founders of the Waking the Village foundation. The nonprofit runs a transitional living community called The Tubman House, which serves young parents and their children.

Alexander and Raines have worked with youth for over a decade, sometimes receiving gut-wrenching 2 a.m. phone calls about crises needing immediate action. Realizing they needed something fun, easy and not gut-wrenching at all, the couple decided last year to open Art Beast, a venue that introduces children under 7 to the arts.

Kids are a good motivator, said Alexander, 42, who has three children with Raines. Besides providing an open area for children to explore the arts, Art Beast also provides a source of funding for Waking the Village, and former Tubman House residents will soon be offered jobs there.

Alexander first began working with youth in the '90s, as a high school teacher working with gang members. Raines was a teacher at the Mustard Seed school for homeless children. They both agreed youth needed stability to be able to grow and learn, so they founded Waking the Village in 1999.

To kick off the organization, they took a group of 25 at-risk youth, ages 11-21, on a 2,300-mile cross-country bike ride from California to Florida.

"That (journey) was testament to our (mission) that if you surround people with support and create a community, you get people to the finish line," Alexander said. "It's amazing how resilient, strong and fearless young people are embarking on the unknown."

That experience also inspired them to continue with plans to create the Tubman House in 2003. With recent instability in the grant market, they decided to open Art Beast as another source of income to fund, and hopefully expand, Waking the Village.

Benefitting from a strong renters' market, the pair received five months free rent at their Midtown location for Art Beast, which allowed them to achieve their goal of breaking even. To keep costs as low as possible, Alexander, Raines, their friends and family built the studio by hand.

Since opening in July, Art Beast has seen a strong start with up to 60 children dropping by every day. It has already provided some funding for Waking the Village, and Tubman House graduates can bring in their children for free.

"Parents are usually right in there with their children," Alexander said. "About 75 percent of the parents are doing art with their kid."

Art Beast runs like a gym -- you can either buy a membership or drop by any time. It offers classes like painting, singing, dancing and even a young children's theatre workshop. Parents as well as children 8 and over are allowed, but need to watch their speed and elbows, Alexander said.

"It's not intimidating, and it's fun," she added. "We think it will be good for kids."

A new season of classes begins Monday and classes are stand-alone, with the exception of a linear theater class called "Art Beast Mini-Players," which kids should be signed up for by Monday, Jan. 18. Click here for the full schedule of classes.

Alexander also said to expect expanded night hours soon, enabling kids to be dropped off for several hours while their parents participate in Second Saturday or go on dates. A summer camp is also in the future for Art Beast.

Photographs by Kati Garner.