The Poughkeepsie Performing Arts Academy is an extension of the Newburgh Performing Arts Academy, widely recognized as the Hudson Valley’s premier institution for the study of the arts. Founded in 2018, the Poughkeepsie Performing Arts Academy was established to provide youth ages 3-18 with the same high quality, pre-professional instruction in the creative arts such as dance, music, theatre, and visual arts that students have been receiving at the Newburgh Performing Arts Academy for the past 20 years.
The mission of the Poughkeepsie Performing Arts Academy is to educate and enrich the quality of life of individuals in underserved communities through instruction in and access to the various creative art forms such as dance, theatre, music, literary, and visual arts. To this end, PPAA also works with schools and community based organizations to bring the arts to area residents through its workshops, master classes, arts-in-education and afterschool programs.