The Kids’ Man

Keith Bowen’s Art & Educational Technical Institute is making a huge difference for young people in the Historic Westside.

Keith Bowen is known throughout the Historic Westside as the CEO and founder of the Bully Busters organization — spending years working with young people to combat bullying in Clark County schools. To grow the impact of his transformative work, he opened Keith Bowen’s Art & Educational Technical Institute in 2022. 

Residents of the community have greeted Bowen’s new initiative with tremendous excitement, and he recently expanded to a larger facility at 930 West Owens. On Dec. 23, he will host a grand opening and provide gifts to the children of incarcerated parents. 

The 4,200 square-foot building allows him to serve more youth and offer additional programming. “This was our first summer service to the community,” he said. “We had over 60 children, with 45 in the diversion [when juveniles are court-ordered to perform community service work] course .” 

Bowen is proud to run a micro-school that helps young people obtain a GED, get job training, and receive tutoring in English and math. “We have computers — and if the children are failing in school, we help them bring their grades up,” he says. “Ninety percent of community youth are good. It’s maybe that 5% or 10% we have to continue to work with.” 

The institute also provides training in the areas of radio, T-shirt design, and culinary skills. “Our youth fix their own lunches at our school each day,” he explains. “They grow their vegetables, and we provide culinary training to teach the youth how to make their own food and how to eat healthy.” 

Bowen believes the needs of community youth are vast, and he has dedicated his life to providing the resources they need. I had a good friend who passed away by suicide, and I vowed to help other children,” he says. “Bullying is real. You can’t tell made-up stories about it. When someone encounters an experience of being bullied, they remember it for a lifetime. It’s not only children who encounter it.”