Inside what? You might ask. They don’t even have a building to call home!
Exactly! We don’t, and that is why I’m writing this article.
Even without a structure, we exist, because of people, people that have decided to make a difference in their community.
Our organization, this year, was able to identify some important goals. We put together our strategic plan. Having this blue print we were able to move forward in an organized and strategic manner.
We identified fundraising as the most important factor at this time and are making a push in this area. We chose team leaders in order to function in a structure that allows us to move swiftly in teams.
Everything the ARTree does has a clearly focused purpose now.
The Art Walk team is headed by Paula Dwyer, a talented artist with many years of experience as a designer for major retail stores. The Art Walk has become a very successful part of what we do. It has grown from four children participating two years ago to over one hundred. The Art Walk Team’s purpose is to take our organization to the streets and expose the community to the arts by engaging them with great projects that reflect who we are. Our particular projects are directed to anyone, but more especially children. The Art Walk team has team meetings that strategize what projects they will do throughout the year that are beneficial in bringing arts education to the community. The Arts Education Classes are headed by Dianne Foderaro, a gifted teacher and talented sculptor with a masters in arts education, she is passionate about the arts.
She realizes that art education is an important component as an outreach program to the community. Our goal is to provide an arts program that is engaging to children of all races and economic background. These are only two of the many people working to bring arts to The Santa Clarita Valley. The ARTree is filled with very talented and skilled individuals that I will showcase in the next few months.
My thanks to these individuals for graciously giving their time and talents.