First Artists Pilot Program

In 2002, thanks to support from the Civil Society Institute and the Creative Artists Agency Foundation, First Book launched the First Artists pilot program. Seven communities were identified to serve as test markets for the First Artists concept. The communities, a mix of large cities and rural communities, were: Montgomery, AL; Los Angeles, CA; Boston, MA; Sikeston, MO; Nashville, TN; Dallas, TX; and Spokane, WA. This range of communities allowed First Artists to garner extensive experience on which to base a national rollout.

In each of the seven communities, First Artists extensively reviewed local programs to determine which ones would receive First Artists art supply grants. Programs were selected based on how well they serve the educational needs of children, how the art projects would be integrated into curricula, and the types of resources already received by the programs. All selected programs serve children from low-income families and work with the children on an ongoing basis. The programs included school district sponsored after-school mentoring programs, Head Starts, childcare programs, Boys and Girls Clubs, programs for children with behavioral and emotional problems, charter schools, and a hospital program for terminally ill children.

During the pilot program, all art supplies were purchased from Sax Arts & Crafts, a subsidiary of School Specialties, the largest school supply company in the country. Nine kits were created, each containing enough materials to allow between 20-30 children to create art projects. Each project came with instructions for the teacher and could be completed in one or two hours. On average, the cost of one art project per child was under two dollars, with the projects for the oldest grade levels costing the most.

Each program selected was asked to complete an evaluation questionnaire as part of the process. The evaluations indicated that First Artists often gave programs the opportunity to implement organized art projects for the very first time. When asked for adjectives to describe the children as they worked on the art projects, programs responded with "enthusiastic," "dedicated," "focused," "eager," "excited," "motivated," and one noted that the kits allowed children to "make choices with colors, textures, materials." Many programs specifically shared that their children did not want to go home once they had started their art projects.

First Artists is in a unique position as it both presents an entirely new way to enhance art education and builds on the power of First Book's ten years of success in distributing educational materials to children in need nationwide. With this springboard, First Artists is poised to roll out an unparalleled national campaign this year. We hope you will join us.

If you'd like to learn more, please read our pilot summary (pdf).

NOTE: The summary is in PDF format. If you are unable to view it, you can download Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

First Artists
1319 F Street, NW   Suite 1000   Washington, DC 20004
Phone: (202) 393-1222   Fax: (202) 628-1258
Email: info@firstartists.org

First Artists is a subsidiary of First Book.

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