Free Arts

Empowering underserved youth through art and mentoring programs. Founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, Free Arts (aka Free Arts for Abused Children) uses art to restore hope, resiliency, and self-esteem in children and youth who have experienced abuse, neg...

Empowering underserved youth through art and mentoring programs. Founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, Free Arts (aka Free Arts for Abused Children) uses art to restore hope, resiliency, and self-esteem in children and youth who have experienced abuse, neglect, poverty, and/or homelessness. The organization pairs children with adult mentors who serve as positive role models and uses "process-oriented" art, including writing, drawing, and painting, to develop and cultivate participants' leadership skills and a belief in a brighter future. The organization currently provides creative arts programs to more than twenty-two thousand children and youth a year through partnerships with homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, housing programs, afterschool programs, and schools serving disadvantaged children.