Project Description:

The Visual Arts Program was devised to provide intentional and engaging free visual arts classes and supplies to nurture the creative spirit, academic achievement, and social-emotional well-being for 3,941 kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Title I schools in historically under-served San Diego neighborhoods.

Results:

The program’s activities and accomplishments closely aligned with the proposed plan, with one significant deviation. We initially proposed a program via distance learning. When schools returned to in-person learning, we pivoted our strategy to also return to schools. The deliverables remained the same, yet we were able to deepen our impact by serving students in person and creating a space for collaboration. As a result, we were able to increase our original commitment of 2,500 students served to 3,941! In addition, nearly 62% of students reported that, to some degree, the project changed their view of who can be an artist, and 77% report they better understand what a job or career in the arts looks like. There are also strong, positive, and significant results (p ≤ .01) in creative self-confidence, belief in the interconnectedness among the arts and other subjects in school, and understanding of art vocabulary.

Collaborations/Future Plans:

We worked with San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) and Arts Education Resource Organizations (AERO) to amplify our work, inviting staff to share student artwork in newsletters, attend art shows, and help us connect to schools where no visual art is taking place. This partnership will continue as we work together to ensure all San Diego Unified schools have access to some form of arts education. ArtReach partnered with The California Center for the Arts, Escondido (CCAE) to deliver visual arts programs to North County Title I schools. They help assess their district’s needs and coordinate partnerships with new Escondido elementary schools looking for high-quality visual arts residencies. This collaboration will continue, currently slated to connect our services to two new Title I schools this fall. This program is core to our mission, and will continue at a similar scale. We fundraise year-round to support free visual arts education programs for Title I schools all throughout San Diego County.