A COVID-19 Update Even during this difficult time, Free Arts is transforming children’s trauma to resilience through the arts. Though most of our regular program are on pause, we have created new innovative options for children who have experienced trauma, their caregivers, and the community. Art Heals Videos: A video series which is available to the children...
Each fall for the past 18 years, Free Arts has partnered with Dance Theater West (DTW) to recreate DTW’s Storybook Ballet production featuring Free Arts children. Our beloved partnership continued last September, when more than 20 Free Arts children performed alongside DTW dancers at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Director Susie Silverman and...
If you have been to a Free Arts Day, chances are good that you have seen or even been surrounded by bright green Edward Jones t-shirts. You may have even noticed that every Volunteer Spotlight in the Art Heals Newsletter in 2019 has been presented by Edward Jones. These two things are not unrelated. Central...
Laughter and smiles were all around the Encanto Room at the Heard Museum as children’s hands went up to let volunteer mentors know that they had completed the bead necklaces that they were making. Volunteer mentors went over to the waiting children and with caring patience tied up the colorful necklace for the children to...
Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona creates safe spaces for children to transform their trauma to resilience, and one of our premier events that accomplishes this goal is Creativity Day. As part of the Free Art Day program, Creativity Day showcases a variety of art forms and features different cultural partners in one art-filled...
By Gabriella, Alumni Mentor My name is Gabriella, but my Free Arts family calls me Gabs. Free Arts is a nonprofit organization that builds hope and heals children’s trauma through artistic expression. I know this because I was a participant. I’ve been involved with Free Arts since 2012, when I was twelve years old. I’m...
By: Jessica Flowers, Free Arts Program Director In 2007, I was hired to coordinate the Weekly Mentor Program at Free Arts. As a part of my training, I led my own weekly mentor group and visited countless mentors to observe their programs and offer feedback. I ran this program for six years, wrote project curriculum,...
By Kim Valentine, Free Arts intern and volunteer mentor This past March, Free Arts kicked off its annual Camp Series with a new addition to our programming: The Art of Leadership Camp. This camp was designed for the teens to learn about what it takes to be a strong leader and how to utilize the...
Except for one, it was the first time that the girls had visited a museum. As they toured the Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum they were reminded of their own heritage. The teen girls participating in this Professional Artist Series, a collaboration between Free Arts for Abused Children of...
On Saturday, June 30th, Free Arts held the culminating performance of our 18th annual Theater Camp at the Herberger Center in downtown Phoenix. The Theater Camp, themed “Road to Resilience,” brought together 30 teens from foster care group homes, shelters, and treatment centers and immersed them in the art of theater. In the first week of...
