OUR MISSION

In 2010, Quest Center founder Jim Lutz envisioned a program that would combine education, music, youth development & opportunity to unconditionally serve the most marginalized children living in rural, lower-income communities - especially during critical after-school hours and unstructured, often unsupervised, school breaks.

 Over the next 2 years, The Quest Center vision took shape. And fourteen years later more than 2,000 students from 7 Middle Tennessee counties participate in Quest Center programs each year, including over 425 students enrolled in weekly instrument classes annually.

The Quest Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit music education & youth development center located in Dickson TN. Our mission is to help build and strengthen community through music, using music education to positively influence the lives of children living in rural, lower-income communities - including at-risk youth and individuals living with disabilities - regardless of financial resources, abilities or other factors.

OUR GOALS:

• Be a positive influence in the lives of children living in rural, lower-income communities by making year-round music education & youth development programs unconditionally accessible to all students, particularly the most vulnerable members of the community

• Help children develop skills that will improve their chances for success in school, prepare them to compete in the job market and help them become stronger contributors to their community: positive self-esteem, self-confidence, focus, discipline, social skills, collaboration skills & creative thinking skills

• Provide an affordable, supportive and safe environment where all skill levels can experience a continuum of music activities: learn to read and play music, improve existing skills, collaborate with other students, explore songwriting and performance, make new friends who share a common interest

• Offer extended education opportunities that expose students to the diversity of careers in music - technical, business, operational & creative - often with industry professionals, providing them with information and a network of relevant relationships

• Develop student engagement that helps reduce boredom & risk behavior among youth, especially during critical and often unsupervised non-school hours & summer months 

• Teach students the importance of giving back to the community through school and community performances.

• Our Pathway Student Teaching Assistant Program is a training & mentoring opportunity for Quest Center students to develop leadership, communication & engagement skills as paid Teaching Assistants in a live classroom environment.

• Maintain an operating model that supports our mission and vision, helping ensure our programs are unconditionally accessible for all children

The Quest Center for Art & Community Development Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a non-profit organization under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to the Center are deductible under section 170 of the Code. We are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code.