Free Arts made a positive impact locally in our recent partnership with Miss Scottsdale Outstanding Teen. Sophia Lin reached out to Free Arts because she related to our mission: “Transforming children’s trauma to resilience through the arts.”

This year Free Arts has teamed up with Phonetic Spit, a local non-profit whose mission is to create brave spaces that help young people find, develop, and publicly present their voices as agents of social change.

With the arrival of COVID, words like “unprecedented” and “pivoting” and “lock down” became common language to all of us.  Free Arts was no exception.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our normal routines, the way we work, and the way we connect with people. There have been new and innovative ways to communicate, and for organizations like Free Arts, to still engage with the populations that they serve. In this quest for innovation and connectedness, some new bonds with old friends...

Behind the curtain, the stage was filled with props and youthful anticipation, against a sparkling backdrop. Young voices filled the air as they nervously shuffled their feet and took their places. As the lights went down, a calm quiet replaced the backstage buzz.

On April 6th (Arizona Gives Day), we had 75 families participate in our Art in Action virtual event. The event showcased the intention and care behind the music and visual arts programs at Free Arts. Teaching artist, Frank Thompson, energetically led the drumming session while teaching artist, Linda Pullinsi, guided us through the process of...

March of 2021 marked the triumphant return of Hip Hop Camp!

Having a creative outlet can help with feelings of overwhelm, stress, or the feeling of burnout. We like to spend time doing intentional art activities to help incorporate creativity breaks into our day. A fun, intentional art activity that can be done by the whole family is Illustrated Names. This project comes from the Free...

Free Arts is going statewide! In our largest initiative to date, we plan to provide 5,000 Bravery Boxes to children in foster care throughout the state of Arizona. That means when a child enters foster care, they will receive their very own Bravery Box of art supplies and intentional art activities that are designed to...

In late September 2020, Free Arts embarked on an ambitious project to simultaneously create five art murals in the Valley at various locations, with five different teaching artists, and five alumni apprentices. The purpose of the project was to highlight the creativity and resilience of communities during an especially difficult time in history. To make...