ArtReach

ArtReach Vision: Our overall vision is accessible, engaging art instruction for all young people regardless of economic, social, or physical barriers.

Overall Impact:
ArtReach provides equal access to creative thinking and creative doing. Many studies connect art making to improved grades, attendance, test scores and confidence. ArtReach facilitates improved morale and a creative culture on the campuses we serve. Teachers morph our lessons into the foci for other subjects. Art shows blossom. Murals take over plain walls, mosaiced outdoor art blooms in the gardens. Ultimately, we hope to be agents of change so that entire schools and community centers take part in contributing to a creative campus year-round.

Strategic Goals:
ArtReach strives to accomplish these strategic goals each year:
Identify 20 or more schools that qualify for free programs each year. Criteria include: Title I School, no existing art program, no resources for a program, compelling reasons. Applications are scored on each criterion and queued according to date received. ArtReach provides as many free programs as funding allows.

Provide fee-based worked to schools with the ability to pay for programs.

Maintain high levels of quality control for in classroom work via teacher evaluations, student assessments and teaching artist feedback.

Engage teaching artists that reflect, not only a commitment to teaching art skills, but also dedicated to helping each student find a personal voice and personal satisfaction in creating art.

Connect with the community (parents, teachers, stakeholders, businesses) to widen advocacy to create arts rich schools. ArtReach belongs to arts education advocacy organizations, attends conferences, partners with other organizations and businesses on a regular basis to widen the arts education net.

Connect with artists and other arts organizations to provide the most robust programming possible.

Maintain and nurture and involved and educated board and artistic team.

Plan proven fundraising strategies for each year.

Student/School Learning Goals:
Learning goals include these significant milestones:

Increased Individual self-confidence and comfort with expressing creatively
Increased confidence in utilizing new art skills and working with new art media
Collaborative empowerment through working as a group to create, curate and exhibit artwork
A fostered connection to historical and contemporary artists and the work they create
A safe, encouraging environment that engenders out-of-the box thinking and creative risk-taking
Schools undergo a transformation of space leading to feelings of school/center ownership

Access for Schools with Limited Resources
ArtReach addresses inequity and lack of access by providing schools that meet need criteria (Title I school, no existing visual art program, no resources to fund such a program) an opportunity to apply for a free, standards-based visual arts education program. ArtReach widely publicizes free and low-cost program opportunities via the internet, announcements at conferences and meetings, and word of mouth. The number of schools included in the free/low-cost program each year depends on ArtReach resources. Generally, we work in about 20 schools each year on a first- come/first-served basis. We place additional schools on a waitlist and we contact them as soon as funding becomes available.

Focused & Educated Artistic Team
ArtReach Teaching Artists serve as the ambassadors of creativity on each campus. They keep up-to-date on California Standards for arts education and incorporate them into each lesson, but they also encourage critical and creative thinking by giving young people the tools to express an individual vision during each session. ArtReach shares best practices for instruction/social justice issues and more via conferences and internal meetings. Perhaps most importantly, ArtReach works hard to partner with each campus and address specific needs of each school. Pre- program meetings with schools help insure a true partnership. Classroom Teachers remain with Teaching Artists during each lesson and shared lessons plans allow classroom teachers to repeat or reframe ArtReach lessons at a later date.

Community/Partnerships
ArtReach has formed and continues to form many partnerships in the community. Some, like partnerships with schools and school districts, engender better communication, and some, like our long-term partnerships with Knockaround Sunglasses and ArtReach San Diego, result in unique programs and financial support. The Executive Director continues to make connections that strengthen ArtReach’s ability to serve the community.

Fundraising
Our ability to serve rests largely on our ability to raise funds. To that end, ArtReach has a robust fundraising plan in place each year. Our multi-pronged approach includes connecting with individual donors, fundraising events, including a yearly gala called Party ARTy, annual campaigns, grant writing and partnerships. We set goals and achieve them each year. We grow steadily, but carefully

Staff/Board
Each ArtReach staff member sees arts education as a right that young people deserve and need. They communicate this passion to connect youth with art making by tireless dedication to creating sustainable partnerships, engaging in ongoing fundraising, creating engaging curriculum, and insuring a meaningful body of work for students, staff, board and volunteers.

The ArtReach board is an integral part of the organization, The Executive Team works closely with the Executive Director and other staff to set goals, budgets, and to brains

Our strength lies in the ArtReach team -- staff, board, community and business partners and volunteers. Further, our infrastructure supports the programs and goals planned by the team. Our commitment to professional development enables staff and board to embrace best practices and engage in important program and practice evaluation.

ArtReach Staff
Sarah Holbach, Executive Director
First as ArtReach Program Manager and now as Executive Director, Sarah Holbach has tripled the school and youth sites served each year. In her first year as Executive Director, the budget grew by 33% She inspires ArtReach Artists to think big while also fostering a meaningful connection between students and art making. She also leads the organization in seeking creative funding and partnerships and works with the board to achieve strategic goals while growing responsibly.

The Program Manager, Mural Program/Special Projects Manager, and Community Liaison round out the ArtReach staff. Each is uniquely suited for their work, and as a team, work seamlessly to deliver sound an engaging programs, while connecting to schools, the community, partners and donors.

ArtReach Board
The business owners, teachers, community leaders, and artists that comprise the board, have worked hand in hand with ArtReach Staff to accomplish goals, set priorities and support the work of the artistic team. For example, in 2019, the Board established a committee for the yearly Party ARTy fundraiser, that worked to fully fund the event (food, entertainment, decor, auction items) so that all proceeds went directly to ArtReach to support free and low-cost programming. This is a milestone for an organization. The commitment of the board fuels the success of ArtReach.

Infrastructure
ArtReach has several systems in place that support best practices in accounting, fundraising, risk assessment, staff evaluation and human resources. For example, ArtReach has established a link with Human Resources training and best practices via our insurance carrier, and we use Blackbaud etapestry to track, communicate with and help recruit donors. Our Policy and Procedures Manual keeps the staff and team on the same page regarding employment, and risk assessment issues. The Board continually works to keep policies current with industry standards. We are committed to maintaining an equitable and accessible workplace. Our evaluation procedures help staff and board reflect and go forward.

Professional Development
Arts education requires a commitment to high level teaching practices, continual renewal of creative program planning, a commitment to social justice and equity and participation in the rich arts and education community in San Diego. The staff and board participate in a number of conferences and consortiums to accomplish this, including participating in programs offered by University of California Non Profit Leadership Academy, RISE San Diego, AERO, Arts Empower and more.

In 2007, two sisters, Judy Berman Silbert and Sandi Cottrell, created ArtReach in response to severe educational budget cuts that decimated arts programming in San Diego County schools. The goal? To take artists into schools with limited resources and provide free, standards-based visual arts instruction. In 2008, the unpaid staff of two worked in two schools giving one specific lesson called the Dream Quilt. 470 students participated. By 2014/15, two full-time, paid staff worked together with several local artists to provide free sequential art instruction at 10 schools, fee-based sequential instruction at 12 schools, and free community art making opportunities at 5 events. In 2018/19, 22 schools received free or low-cost programming, and 12 schools paid for sequential instruction. ArtReach also participated in 16 events connecting families to art making. By the end of 2019, ArtReach worked with a total of 31,352 young people. ArtReach has come far.

Numbers do not tell the entire story. The ArtReach commitment to tailoring every program to each site remains the same, as does the commitment to high quality lessons that help young people learn about contemporary artists while using unique art materials and working with artists passionate about growing new generations of creative thinkers. From the start, ArtReach has committed to assessment of programs via teacher and student evaluations including an artistic skill and confidence survey to measure change in student knowledge and attitudes during longer residencies.

The Mural Program, in place since 2018 brings a new option to schools requesting ArtReach programs. Under the direction of muralist Isabel Halpern, students work together to design and paint place changing murals that bring schools and communities together. We are excited to work with research and evaluation specialists to create an evaluation that will measure the program’s impact on students, classroom teachers and the community. In 2019/2020, at least 10 sites will participate in this program.

ArtReach has created strong ties with many school districts and organizations. A new collaboration with the California Center for the Arts in Escondido will connect students in 8 schools in Escondido and San Marcos -- new locations for our program. Both Knockaround Sunglasses and ArtWalk San Diego continue long-term support of our program. And, our individual donor base has grown as well. From our humble beginnings, we have become a well-known arts organization in San Diego.

As for what’s next, ArtReach will continue to grow within our means with the goal of connecting as many young people with artists and art making as our budget allows. As we grow wisely, we look to these future goals:

Expand our office space to include a studio for free and low-cost programs for community youth and teens.

Expand our North County San Diego programs in underserved communities.

Increase programs for middle/high school students