Meet the Team Behind: Arts for All

Arts for All offers accessible artistic opportunities to children in the New York City area who face socio-economic, physical, or emotional barriers to experiencing the arts. By exposing children to theater, dance, painting, drawing, creative writing, and more, students become holistic learners who can confidently express themselves. Learn more about Arts for All here!

What is the story behind Arts for All? 

It’s our goal to give all children equitable access to artistic opportunities. We started as a club to spread awareness of the importance of the arts and became a nonprofit in 2007. Now, we serve approximately 5,000 children a year who have little means or opportunity to explore the arts. Professional artists work with our youth to build self-confidence, self-expression, resilience, and creativity in children as they are exposed to many artistic disciplines. Arts for All partners with public schools and organizations that lack arts programming, and we work together to address the needs of each community. 

Can you tell me about your programs? 

We offer different programs at schools across the city, giving kids access to various art forms. Professional artists volunteer their time and efforts to lead our programs. Our Artist Residency Program at the Colears School offers theater and movement-based programs, and focuses on visual arts at the Arthur A. Schomburg School. Literacy Through the Arts, our program that encourages reading, writing, and literary comprehension through artistic expression, runs at many schools in the NYC area. Some programs are targeted to kids as young as kindergarten, while some are tailored to tweens and young teens in middle school. 

How do you get kids out of the classroom to experience the arts? 

The Audience Project brings a free professional theater production to under-served kids in the NYC area. Previous productions include Pinocchio, The Mountain Song, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and The Magician’s Assistant. Through our Artistic Exposure Program, students have special extracurricular opportunities like field trips, museum visits, and more. On our website, there are a variety of interactive activities that kids can do from home. We are constantly creating original programs to give children the arts access they need to thrive. 

How can individuals get involved in your work? 

Arts for All relies heavily on donations of time and monetary contributions in order to provide our services free of charge to disadvantaged children. Our professional artist volunteers work with children everyday to keep our mission alive. If you want to help ignite a lifelong passion for the arts, consider volunteering, interning, fundraising, or donating to our cause. We’d love to work together to bring Arts for All to your community and are open to ideas to reach as many children as possible.