Musicians Christopher Dean Sullivan, Craig Harris, Mala Waldon and Baba Neil Clarke worked together with TRANSART to increase exposure of jazz to youth and under-resourced communities. Collectively, the artists formed the TRANSART Jazz Ensemble, a performance and teaching artist cohort. As teaching artists, the cohort facilitated Music Futures, a six-week summer youth music exposure and education program, which provided one-on-one instruction for musically experienced young people as well as music introduction, which exposed students with a love of music to the variety of career options beyond performance. The ensemble performed live concerts in local high schools, conducted pop-up concerts in the neighborhood, and performed professionally at various venues in the Mid-Hudson Valley. A major undertaking was the launching of Rhythm Salon at TRANSART, an ongoing weekly live music concert event featuring the artists in performance together or with a variety of their own band members. Presenting the music the way it was intended, Rhythm Salon offered in an intimate acoustic setting, allowing musicians the freedom to creatively express themselves and speak directly with the audience about their creative process.

TRANSART uses the transformative power of art to advance and preserve the art, history, and popular culture of peoples of African ancestry, cultivating communities where all voices are heard, understood, and valued. TRANSART provides year-round programming that builds communities, addresses critical social issues, and takes advantage of new resources to infuse art and culture into the life of the Hudson River Valley.