This is the fourth post in the 2021 Kindness series. Each month I will make a donation to a different nonprofit and write about the organization.
This month’s donation is in memory of my mom, Arlene Summers, who passed away one year ago. Mom was an artist and an educator who devoted her career to helping kids learn about and enjoy art. I selected a nonprofit with a mission close to her heart. (The image above, “You gotta have ART’ is a button Mom had on her inspiration bulletin board that now sits on my desk.)
About P.S. ARTS
P.S. ARTS supports under served public schools and communities by offering visual arts, dance, music, and theater programs. The organization was created to fill a gap after funding cuts reduced or eliminated art programs in some California schools. (Over the years, my Mom talked about the challenges school districts faced. Sadly, when some schools needed to cut spending, arts programs were reduced. )
P.S. ARTS has several arts programs.
Classroom Instruction – Kids in the partner schools attend weekly dance, music, theater, and/or visual arts classes throughout the school year. They also have programs like the Student Art Club that gives kids a chance to do art project during lunchtime.
P.S. ARTS classroom programs serve 57 schools and 25,000 students
Community Outreach – P.S. ARTS organizes free arts events for families that include hands-on arts activities and resources parents can use to help their kids do art at home.
P.S. ARTS community engagement programs serve 10,000 students and families
Art at Home
Here is something cool you can do at home… P.S. ARTS has an entire section on their website, Art at Home, with free video projects that anyone can try. You can find visual arts, music, theater, and dance projects. I love that many of the visual art projects are themed around famous artists like Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky, Georgia O’Keeffe, and more. Kids can learn about art history and works of art while making their own masterpiece.
Support P.S. ARTS
If you are interested, there are a few ways you can support P.S. ARTS valuable work in underserved public schools and communities.
Wooww untill now we in uganda at elohim kids home we still follow u and more so now that we share same dream with your late mom may her sould rest in peace in music