Community Impact
58
Years of serving the Staten Island community, building cultural bridges between generations, backgrounds, and neighborhoods
37
Years of producing Staten Island's longest-running jazz festival
1000+
Community members participate in programming representing the highest level of artistic excellence each year
Signature Events
UTA has been providing an array of life enrichment programs to Staten Islanders for over 50 years – our mission is to "quicken the creative spirit in the individual and community and foster brotherly love." Since our inception, UTA has been a thriving force, fostering cultural and artistic development in the community.
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Love In Bloom
Love in Bloom is a performance featuring dance, music, visual art, and poetry. It explores the breadth, depth, and power of love using artistic expressions to convey love as the supreme emotion, a healing power, and the most valuable gift.
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Staten Island JAZZ Festival
The Universal Temple of the Arts Staten Island JAZZ Festival stands as a beacon for the borough’s rich artistic spirit, offering an annual gathering where music’s transformative power takes center stage. For those who seek both tradition and innovation, the festival provides an immersive experience that bridges generations through the universal language of jazz.
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Multicultural Messages Through Dance
Multicultural Messages Through Dance is another iconic tradition of Universal Temple of the Arts, created in line with UTA's mission: "quickening the creative spirit in the individual and fostering brotherly love." It features various dance styles influenced by traditional and modern global expressions.
Programs
UTA works with seasoned professional artists to provide instruction in and exposure to, an eclectic blend of fine and performing arts, cultural, educational and social programs. Our FREE programs serve community members by providing hands-on, experiential and creative artistic outlets that uplift, enlighten, inspire and facilitate unique expanded learning and enrichment opportunities that only the arts can foster.
Read All About It
Read All About It
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A street on Staten Island’s North Shore now bears the name of a community leader and cultural icon.
On Sunday, the corner of Jersey Street and Scribner Avenue in New Brighton was co-named in honor of Sajda Musawwir Ladner, the longtime executive director of the pioneering non-profit Universal Temple of the Arts, who died in 2021.
“This ceremony, in honor of Sajda Musawwir Ladner, is the catalyst in the transformation of Jersey Street,” said Lorna Harris, emcee for the event.
Located steps from 425 Jersey St., where the Universal Temple of the Arts center opened in 1990, the intersection now bears the name of the singular figure who spent decades of her life committed to the surrounding community.
Exciting news! Universal Temple of the Arts is a proud recipient of The Diamond Matching Grant Program, an initiative of The Staten Island Foundation. All donations will be matched 2:1.
The Diamond Matching Grant Program will help Universal Temple of the Arts serve more community members through our arts education programs; signature events: The Staten Island JAZZ Festival, Love in Bloom, and Multicultural Messages through Dance; and further our efforts to renovate and reopen the newly imagined Sajda Musawwir Ladner Cultural Center.