In October, Free Arts was invited to participate in “Teen Maze” as one of our first steps towards establishing statewide programs. This multi-day event, held at Grace M. Sparks Activity Center in Prescott, Arizona, was hosted by North Star Youth Partnership, a program of Catholic Charities. Seven hundred teens from neighboring middle and high schools participated in this three-day event.
As teens progressed their way through the life-sized “Take Flight to a Successful Future” themed maze, they gathered prevention, education, and resource information from eight participating agencies.
Our Free Arts Day, which represented “resilience building,” offered a supportive, creative, and expressive opportunity for participants to design paper kites where “dreams take flight.”
We are thankful to have been able to introduce Free Arts to Prescott through this Teen Maze opportunity, as well as to develop relationships for potential partnerships, while also becoming more familiar with the community. We have felt very embraced by the community and welcomed with much excitement.
In mid-November, State-wide Expansion Manager Pearl Guerriere was welcomed to the Free Arts team. We are excited about her integral involvement in developing Free Arts programming beyond Maricopa County and to move forward with stewarding the supportive partnerships that are forming.