Free Arts NYC

Free Arts NYC provides under-served children and families with a unique combination of educational arts and mentoring programs that help them to foster the self-confidence and resiliency needed to realize their fullest potential.

FREE ARTS NYC PROGRAMS

Weekly Mentor Program

Parents and Children Together with
Art Program (PACT)

Teen Arts Program (TAP)

Free Arts Days

Free Arts Days (FAD) are one-day festivals of art making. Volunteers pair one-on-one with a child and rotate through multiple visual art projects based on the day’s theme, giving them the opportunity to explore different materials and techniques. Days conclude with lunch or dinner and many with an interactive performance.

Each FAD has between 25 and 100 children and their 25-100 volunteers. Each program runs between three and five hours and volunteers are given a thorough orientation at the start of each FAD.

Each FAD is sponsored by a company, group or individual. For more information about Free Arts Days and our other Corporate Volunteer Opportunities please click here or contact Manager of Corporate Programming Sarah Sabourin sarah@freeartsnyc.org

Program Structure

A typical FAD session is structured as follows:

30 Min	\|	Orientation About Behavior Expectations (Code of Ethics) / Theme Of The Day
15 Min	\|	Children Are Paired 1:1 With Their Volunteer “Buddy”
2 Hrs	\|	Children And Their “Buddies” Rotate Through 5 Theme-based Art Projects
20 Min	\|	Lunch For All
30 Min	\|	Culminating Interactive Performance Related To The Theme
30 Min	\|	Group Goodbye and Volunteer Debrief

Curriculum

FAD's curriculum exposes children to a variety of art-making mediums and materials by rotating through 5 art projects based on a theme, while receiving one-on-one attention from their volunteer “buddy”.

Program Curriculum (Samples):

Art Around the World
Earth Day Art
Meet the Modern Masters
Winter Wonderland
Art of Law
Financial Literacy Through Art
Art of Fashion

Outcomes

+ 97% of the children felt proud of the artwork they created.
+ 99% said they hope to come back to another Free Arts Day.

+ "I love doing art, but I never had a place to practice my skills. I learned that you need courage to be proud of yourself."

+ "I learned that you need courage to be proud of yourself."

+ "I made a mistake but I turned it into art."

Program Sponsorship:

Every Free Arts Day is sponsored by an individual, group or corporation. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sarah Sabourin, Manager of Corporate Programming at sarah@freeartsnyc.org

LEARN MORE ABOUT PROGRAM SPONSORSHIP

FREE ARTS DAY SPONSORS

NOTE: If you would like to participate in one of our programs, you must be affiliated with one of our program partners.