What we do
Everything we make weaves three threads together, free and open to everyone.
Eventos guiados por el arte
We host free, hands-on creative experiences where anyone can make something and feel seen. Painting, papel picado, printmaking — the kind of making that pulls a whole neighborhood to the same table.
Conexiones con recursos comunitarios
Art opens the door — resources walk through it. We bring health, youth, and local-service organizations into the same room, so families leave with both creativity and real answers.
Proyectos liderados por artistas
We pay and center local artists — putting them at the front of the room, not the margins of the budget. When artists lead, the work looks and feels like the community it comes from.
We work with a local space and listen to what the community wants.
Local artists design the hands-on art for all ages.
Health and service organizations set up tables in the same room.
Families make, connect, and leave with art and answers.
Peer-reviewed research keeps finding what our neighbors already know: making art together changes lives.
World Health Organization · 2019
3,000+ studies
The WHO's landmark review of over 3,000 studies found the arts play a major role in preventing illness, promoting health, and supporting treatment — across the whole lifespan.
Fancourt & Finn, What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? WHO Health Evidence Network report 67.
Read the report →Randomized study · Houston schools
10,548 students
The first large-scale randomized study of arts education — 10,548 students across 42 schools — found more arts meant better writing, more compassion for others, fewer disciplinary issues, and higher college aspirations.
Bowen & Kisida, Investigating Causal Effects of Arts Education Experiences. Peer-reviewed in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.
Read the study →The BMJ · 14-year study
Longer, fuller lives
Following thousands of adults over 14 years, researchers found that people who engage with the arts regularly — even just a few times a year — lived measurably longer, independent of wealth or education.
Fancourt & Steptoe, The art of life and death. BMJ 2019;367:l6377 — English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Read the study →These documents are published in English. ¿Lo prefieres en español? Write to us and we’ll send you a translated summary of any study — free.
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