At the beginning of March, families from all over the state gathered at Lost Canyon Camp in Williams, Arizona, for a day filled with creativity, fun, and togetherness. This Family Free Arts Day was in partnership with the Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents.
The day was a happy success, with 20 families, 37 adults, and 73 children participating in one or two intentional art projects with their families. Children of all ages, from 1 ½ to 22, worked with their family units to create art while having fun.
The event was an excellent opportunity for foster, adoptive, biological, and kinship families from all over Arizona to come together. We had families from Buckeye, Chandler, Coolidge, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Surprise, Tucson, and Yuma.
The two art projects that families worked on were dragon eggs and affirmation card holders. The dragon eggs were designed to help families think about what they treasure and value most in each other. For the affirmation card holders, the families decorated rocks and chose or made an affirmation card that spoke to them. The hope is that they can look at it daily and remind themselves of the positive qualities they possess and the things and people they are grateful for.
We were delighted to hear from one family that said, “I can’t believe we haven’t heard of Free Arts before! This is amazing. We will definitely be participating in future Free Arts events in our area.”
“We problem-solved, worked together, used our creativity, and had fun as a family!”
Free Arts Day attendee
At the end of the day, the families left with a sense of accomplishment, pride, and togetherness. Many children bravely shared their art projects with the group, proud of what they had created. We are grateful to everyone who participated in our first-ever Free Arts Day in Coconino County.
As we continue our statewide expansion, we are very excited to bring more events like this to every county in Arizona as they help foster creativity, self-expression, and healing while bringing families together.
