Our story
Thirty years of raising the curtain for the Northeast Bronx.
Before the empty chairs, there were thirty years of full ones. This is how a keyboard in a Bronx living room became a borough institution — and why we're building it back.
30+
years of teaching
2,000+
Bronx students taught
4–88
ages we’ve welcomed
Milestones
From a keyboard in a Bronx living room to a movement.
1976
It started in a living room
Lola Louis began teaching piano out of her own living room at Lowerre Place in the Northeast Bronx. A keyboard, a handful of neighborhood students, and an open door — that was the whole studio.
1985
CAPAS is founded
What began with piano grew into a full studio. Lola founded Lola Louis’ Creative & Performing Arts Studio (CAPAS), adding voice, drama, dance, art, and musical theatre for students ages three and up.
1990
The Children’s Legacy premieres
Lola’s signature intergenerational production was first written and produced off-off-Broadway to critically acclaimed reviews. Blending griot storytelling, movement, and music, it brought seniors and students onto one stage and went on to be presented at the Apollo, City Hall, and throughout NYC public schools.
1994
Officially a nonprofit
CAPAS received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Tuition was kept affordable on purpose, and the majority of students received full or partial scholarships — no child was ever turned away for inability to pay.
2006
The Children’s Legacy at the U.N.
The work reached one of its highest stages when The Children’s Legacy was performed at the United Nations — a Bronx production carrying its message to a global audience.
2011
Hurricane Irene takes the space
Flooding during Hurricane Irene left the program without a home. Undeterred, Lola moved classes back into her own apartment living room so the work would not stop.
2018
Two thousand alumni
From four-year-olds at the barre to eighty-eight-year-olds at the mic, more than 2,000 Bronx residents had passed through the program — many launched into careers on Broadway, in theater, film, and television.
2023
Losing Lola
Lola Louis passed away in October 2023. Her apartment — the last classroom — had to be given up. The chairs went into storage. The mission did not.
Now
Raising the curtain again
Led by Executive & Artistic Director Ann Lemond-Hume, we are a pre-launch nonprofit fundraising for a permanent Bronx studio. No active classes yet — every dollar funds the reopening, this time free for all, carrying Lola’s work forward.
The next milestone is a signed lease.
Help us write the next line of this story. Every gift funds the reopening of free classes for the Bronx.