Harlem Arts School Dedicates Dance Wing To Savior Board Member

HARLEM, NY — A dance wing at a Harlem arts school organization was recently dedicated to a former board member who, many say, saved the school from financial disaster over a decade ago.

Janice Savin Williams, a founder of a major financial firm which bears her name, was tapped by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg to save the financially troubled Harlem School of the Arts, located on Saint Nicholas Avenue and West 141st Street, back in 2010.

Savin Williams stayed on the board for nearly 12 years, raising and donating millions of dollars for the organization.

So when it was time for the famous arts education organization to honor Savin Williams — founded in 1964 by opera star Dorothy Maynor and can count stars like Lenny Kravitz, Giancarlo Esposito, and Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin as alumni — they decided to name the dance studio at the organizations 37,000-square-foot facility after her.

“We could not be more pleased to honor and to recognize Janice Savin Williams for her years of service and for the enormous contributions she has made in support of this organization and Ms. Maynor’s legacy,” said James C. Horton, president and CEO of the Harlem School of the Arts.

Savin Williams joined the board in 2010 as the organization faced dire financial straits, with permanent closure looming.

She helped shepherd the school through the tough times, and served on the board until 2021 as Vice Chair and Secretary, helping to bring millions of dollars in funding to the school through fundraising and her own donations.

Savin Williams also played a key role in expanding and diversifying the school's program offerings, and helped install a recording studio.

“It is truly an honor to receive this tribute," Williams said. "Extremely special. Thanks to a terrific team effort, HSA remains an iconic and historic institution. I am thrilled to have had and I continue to treasure the opportunity to contribute to the arts education of so many talented students."

At the ceremony, board members referred to Williams as “a force of nature,” who “cared deeply about every student who walked through HSA’s doors.”

Student bands performed songs, including "Stand Up" from the movie "Harriet" and the Billy Taylor song, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," made famous by Nina Simone.

Former Harlem School of the Arts student, Eden Arrington Mouzone, who is currently studying ballet at the Rock School of Dance Education on a full scholarship, performed a choreographed ballet to a rare recording of founder Maynor’s rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from "Carousel."

That night, Horton also shared numbers, which only hinted at the impact of Williams' service.

“By the numbers, annually," Horton said, "HSA, directly and indirectly, touches the lives of approximately 10,000 people, so over the 12 years that you were on the board, you had a direct impact on roughly 120,000 individuals.”

Williams was born in Kingston, Jamaica and went to college at the prestigious Tufts University. After working with American Express, she co-founded her own financial services firm, The Williams Capital Group LP.

Back in 1964, when star soprano Dorothy Maynor founded the school, it was just 20 pianos in a Harlem church basement.

Since then, the Harlem School of the Arts has helped tens of thousands of students between the ages of two to 18-years-old gain a multidisciplinary exposure to the arts, the schools says, with offerings in music, dance, theater, musical theater and art & design.

Nearly 40 percent of their students are from Harlem, and over 55 percent of the students are Black, according to their website.

Famously, trumpeter Herb Alpert gifted the school a generous donation of $6 million in 2013.

Further support from the Herb Alpert foundation allowed the school to undertake a major renovation of their main performance space in 2020.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the dance studio was a new addition — only the naming of it is new. The article also incorrectly mentioned the size of the studio.