Fresh Artists Blog 

Fresh Artists will turn three years old on February 28th! To mark this important milestone, Fresh Artists’ founder, Barbara Chandler Allen, sat down and reflected on these wildly busy, creative and inspiring years.

Someone recently asked us the following question, “Fresh Artists says it delivers “innovative programs and art supplies” to public schools in need. We get the art supplies part. Tell me about your “innovative programs”.

It’s hard to believe Fresh Artist’s is three years old! We were so busy these first years developing our organizational infrastructure we scarcely took a day off. We are proud of what has been accomplished with the help of many, many wonderful people:  creating our structure and operations, going into schools and building the Fresh Artists Collection of more than 500 images, raising money, installing 750 large-format reproductions of children’s art in more than 60 corporations and delivering the retail value of more than $100,000 in art supplies to schools in need. As piece after piece fell into place, we realized our vision was a success! Helping Fresh Artists come to life has been the best three years of my life.

As we went about accomplishing all of these things, of course we were interacting with wonderful people. First and foremost, we began to meet very young artists around the city and learned about their hopes for the future. We met art teachers striving to deliver exceptional art programs for their students. And we began to partner with corporations around our city that had traditions of civic engagement and generosity. Listening to each one of these constituencies has led us to develop new and innovative programs and initiatives:

• Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sales
• Partnership with the Barnes Foundation
• Sign Studio
• Pablo, the Philly Philanthropist
• Stories Behind the Art
• Memory Games: Fresh Faces, Fresh Food and Fresh Art
• Partnerships with nonprofits serving vulnerable children

Meeting Our City’s Children

What can we say? The kids are why we are doing this, and they are wonderful: hopeful, fun, creative, “outside the box” by nature, the kids we meet steal our hearts and make us proud. But we began to realize that the letter we sent to them when their work is selected was not enough — the children didn’t understand the full impact of their generosity and talent. The thought they’d just won an award. Fresh Artists is unusual and sort of complicated. Especially to 8 year-olds! How could we help them “get it”?

Because the philanthropy of the small child is at the very core of Fresh Artists’ vision, we realized we needed to go back to the drawing board and find a way to communicate this to the kids we served, to have real conversations with children about philanthropy. So we developed several pilot programs that offer tangible evidence to both the children who become Fresh Artists and the general public, which was, by now, getting pretty interested in what we were doing. We also heard from super-talented 4^th graders who talked about “starving artists”, saying they couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to grow up to be an artist. Gasp!

Co-Creating with Art Teachers

We heard from art teachers who are starving for meaty, wildly innovative art programs for their kids. They told us that they wanted to “get their kids out of Dodge” into the real world, visiting museums so they could have experiences with and see lots of art.  Teachers asked us why only “big offices could show Fresh Artists art,” and why couldn’t the children’s art “be put in places where real kids could see it”. Like us, they also wanted to find a way to include children who wanted to help Fresh Artists raise money for art supplies but whose work would not be part of the collection.

Listening to Our Corporate Donors

When we install art in corporate spaces, people go nuts. They love the color, the freedom, and the creativity of our children’s art. The only complaint we get is that they want to know more about the artists!  To help bring our kids to life in the corporate boardroom, we are developing “back stories” that will accompany each piece of artwork, Stories Behind the Art. These story sheets will tell something about the art lesson being taught, and some interesting (nonsensitive) information about the young artist and the dedicated teachers who teach them.  Again, a core part of our mission is to have people see the extraordinary talent and promise of children in our struggling public schools, and call to others to action on their behalf.

As everything else was zipping along on schedule (art acquisition, art supplies distribution, annual Sprout Fest honoring the young art donors), we set about to experiment…to address the other challenges we were learning about.

_______________ Challenge: “Our young donors don’t truly understand that they are making a                                                                difference in the world through the gift of their artwork.”

Solution: Find a way to speak directly to kids, through a medium they understand and will delight them.  A brochure for 8 year-olds?  So we wrote an illustrated children’s storybook called “Pablo, the Philly Philanthropist” about a little boy whose passion for drawing and painting was getting him in trouble. His artwork is chosen by Fresh Artists and he learns he is a philanthropist who fills his school shelves with art supplies through his talent and generosity. We read this book aloud at our last Sprout Fest, and then questioned the kids afterward about being philanthropists. Eureka! They got it!  We also gave a copy of “Pablo” to every child inducted into Fresh Artists in 2010.  This will be a feature of our program from now on. Truth be told, corporate lawyers are also becoming fans of the book!

An art teacher wrote, “I just want to let you know how thrilled Josh and Jalil are over the fact that their artwork will be used to help other needy students. When I explained Fresh Artists to them, the first thing Jalil said was, “I love helping other people!”. It really warmed my heart that his first reaction was concerning other people, rather than himself. He really gets it!”

_______________ Challenge:  Getting kids connected to and comfortable in art museums.

Solution: We were invited to create a unique partnership with the world-famous Barnes Foundation to give 64 kids unprecedented access to this delightful but remotely located museum.  The museum is moving from the Philadelphia suburbs into the cultural heart of Philadelphia and the director wanted to connect with the city’s children while their building was being constructed. The kids were given three private tours of their collections then each child adopted a masterpiece to “interpret”. Beautiful mini-masterpiece renditions of Matisse, Monet, Cezanne, Renoir and Soutine were created by the K-7th grade kids.

We were grateful to be able to exhibit the entire project at Woodmere Art Museum, and the Barnes had 29 of the pieces made into huge, weatherproof panels that they installed on the fence surrounding the construction of their new building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway! Now these kids feel at home in the Barnes and Woodmere. They see their art in a very public place, and can’t wait for “their” new museum to open. Fresh Artists now has gorgeous artwork from the Barnes Foundation in our Collection, available to our donors. We have been contacted by other prominent museums to offer this program with their collections and other schools have asked to be involved!

_______________ Challenge: Kids don’t realize how art can be a business or a career.

Solution: We developed “Fresh Artists Sign Studio”, a little pilot graphic design business where a group of 14 elementary school kids volunteered to take on a client to design interior signs for a new healthy food cooperative. Part of an after-school art club, the kids worked over 10 weeks with Josh Giblin, the merchandise manager of Weavers Way Food Co-op and their art teacher, Robyn Miller, to make stunning pictographs of healthy fruits and veggies for the new store. The kids learned about graphic design, visual communication, and working for a client. Each work session began with a “crit” (critique) of the previous week’s work, with gentle suggestions from the client. When finished, the artwork was scanned, blown up big and installed in the grocery store for the world to see. The kids were honored at the store, and will deliver the art supplies to a school in great need, bought with money their little volunteer “business” earned. Sign Studio generated extraordinary publicity and goodwill in addition to being a grand success with the grocery store, the kids and their teacher. Their healthy food artwork, now part of the Fresh Artists Collection, is being chosen by big corporations and individuals all over the country! These kids now know that art can be a viable, rewarding career choice and that art and design are everywhere they look!

_______________ Challenge:  ”Fresh Artists art is only in big, fancy office buildings.”

Solution: Fresh Artists was born at the peak of a boom economy. Then the economy fell apart. We knew we had a solid business model, but needed to find new markets while we waited for the upturn. So we developed relationships with nonprofit organizations that desperately wanted our vibrant, hopeful artwork to freshen up their offices. Retooling our pricing structure to make the donation for artwork affordable to nonprofit budgets, we found a wonderful new market for the children’s art that both brought in new dollars and made the artwork accessible to ordinary people…and kids!

We forged a relationship with World Café Live, the hip new music venue and home of Penn’s public radio WXPN. We filled their public spaces with Fresh Artists work. Now tens of thousands of adults (and thousands of kids) see and enjoy our art. We created a partnership with the National Children’s Alliance in Washington DC and now are placing our  artwork in Child Advocacy Centers throughout the USA, from Green Bay, Wisconsin to Portland, Oregon. These centers support children who have been sexually abused and maltreated with forensic work, counseling, legal and social support services, and our artwork is being hailed as creating a welcoming, child-friendly, hopeful environment for these fragile children and those who work with them. This fall we placed 173 large-format works of Fresh Artists in “Safe Shores”, the Washington DC Child Advocacy Center. This expansion from our original focus of placing artwork in large corporations has given us the opportunity to widely display our artwork to a new and deserving constituency, provide income during a weak economy and showcase our program to a much wider geographic clientele. All in all, we are thrilled with the lemonade we made from the lemony economy!

_______________ Challenge:  ”How can my child be part of Fresh Artists?”

Solution: Our new program, “Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sales”!  We hear this again and again. It’s true. Fresh Artists is fundamentally a corporate art collection. We choose artwork to attract and engage businesses and corporations… artwork that is visually bold and vibrant, that fills its space to the edges and can withstand “scaling up” in size. Often our images are enlarged up to 6 feet by 9 feet. Although we believe that all children’s art is charming and meaningful, very few pieces fill our Collection’s unusual requirements.  Another parameter of the Fresh Artists Collection is that the art be made and donated by children in low-income schools. That eliminates a whole lot of kids who don’t fall into that category, from suburban and private schools.  But we were determined to design a way that ANY AND ALL children can be part of Fresh Artists. So we started a grass-roots program that is accessible to all kids: Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sales!

“Make some art, hold a local art show/sale. Donate the proceeds to Fresh Artists”, we say. Then we purchase and deliver art supplies to a school in need in the name of the kids who held the Sale!             Badda boom!  This is a great way one child or groups of children, a family, school, scout troop or faith-based organization can get involved with Fresh Artists and make a huge difference to lots of kids. It’s easy and fun.  Several “all school Clotheslines” are in the works at local private schools this Spring, run by young people as their senior projects.  The Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sale Helpful Hints instructions are here and on our website.

_______________ Challenge:    ”What’s next for Fresh Artists?”

Solution in the works:

For sure we want to continue to build relationships with corporate partners, to place our artwork in offices throughout the country and to raise substantial funds to deliver much needed art supplies and art programs to children in need. As we watch arts funding getting slashed in the current frenzy of local and national budget cuts, the need for Fresh Artists’ entrepreneurial social enterprise is obvious.

But we also want to deepen our commitment to having Fresh Artists be a “child-centric” philanthropy, to provide useful real-life hope and tools to low-income teens, to lower our art fabrication costs and to create a “cool clubhouse of service” as Fresh Artists’ homebase.

To this end, we will create the Fresh Artists Print Studio and Apprenticeship program where local teens will be trained to print and fabricate the hundreds of large-format, ink jet images that we give to our donors and help us install them in our donor’s businesses. As digital printing surely is the wave of the future…we will offer our teen Apprentices real-world job experiences that will give them marketable skills. The teens will receive a stipend for their work, get help with their college portfolios and have a senior show of their own work. We have a terrific volunteer Advisory Team of local and national experts in digital printing, photography, operations and youth mentoring in place, and are actively making plans for this exciting next chapter of our life. We hope manufacturers of large-format digital printers will partner with us by donating equipment and expertise for this unusual studio. We are pleased to announce that Adobe Systems has partnered with us and has donated all their cutting-edge digital design software!

So when you see “delivering innovative art programs” along with art supplies, you know that we are thinking way outside the box. In fact, I don’t think a box was ever in our plans!

To all those who have stood with us since the start: We thank each and every child and grown up who has helped Fresh Artists achieve so much in such a short time.

To all who have recently discovered Fresh Artists: Please join in and help us help our public schools. Help build access for ALL children to artmaking, to creative careers, and most importantly, to a life full of giving and meaningful service to others.

“Tell me about the child who made this artwork“, we hear as we install another huge, vibrant reproduction in a corporate office. People always want to know about the young artist or about the lesson being taught through the artwork. Not always, but we often know a little about the child, the art lesson, or some interesting tidbit about what inspired the teacher to introduce this subject to their young students.

A wonderful young writer, Janine James, jumped at the chance to work with us to create “story-sheets” on some of the most popular pieces of artwork from our collection. A talented creative writing major from Eastern University, Janine has joined the Fresh Artists team as our intern and her project is to document stories of the children, their inspiration and processes by interviewing their art teachers.  We will be able to create customized storybooks for our donors about the specific pieces they have chosen to display in their offices.

Fresh Artists intern Janine James

Our aim is to build a bridge of understanding between our generous young artist-philanthropists and the generous donors who support Fresh Artists. Having stories about the art available in the donor’s offices can make the artwork more meaningful to those who visit and work there.  We thank Janine for her gifts of time and talent to bring this important project to life.

The icy wind whipping down Powelton Avenue just about ripped the huge panels of artwork out of our hands as we unloaded the car. Bringing 15 enormous pieces of children’s artwork into the lobby of Red Cross House created a stir with the folks waiting for their shelter intake interviews. As on most days, the place was full of people seeking warmth, hot food, a dry place to sleep and help with the disaster that just befell their families. Fire, flood, explosions, collapsed houses. This family shelter for disaster victims in West Philadelphia welcomes more than 1,000 desperate people a year to the expert loving care of the Red Cross. This wonderful place is clean, bright, warm and blessed refuge for people who have no where else to go.  But it was BARE. Bare walls. Thousands of square feet of bare walls.

Fresh Artists fixed that! On January 14th, we filled the 33,000 sf two-story shelter with 15 gorgeous, joyful works of art from the Fresh Artists collection. Made and donated by Philadelphia public school children, this collection of art represents all ages, from kindergarten to seniors in high school. It is a permanent gift from Fresh Artists and  made possible through a novel and innovated partnership with some of the region’s most influential corporations and individuals.  Read on….it’s a bit complicated but pretty interesting.

Red Cross House Director Yohan Weerasingha with Fresh Artists Barbara Chandler Allen, and installation crew Roger Allen and Emil Bogdan

Fresh Artists wants tons of people…and kids…to see children’s art.  Really, to SEE the children who made the art. We believe that under-resourced kids are essentially invisible in our society. One of the central tenents of Fresh Artists is to bring the children, their stories, their need for a quality public education, and most importantly, their abilities to the attention of the world. Small goal, eh?

We’ve been really successful filling the halls of corporate America with this extraordinary artwork, raising money to deliver tons of art supplies and innovative art programs to public school kids and giving kids of modest means the opportunity to be real philanthropists in their world…in three years.  But we realized that the kids…and ordinary folks, weren’t seeing this beautiful artwork. Just the people who worked in the “spaces of success”, the big, pretty fancy office buildings.

So we climbed into our “Give Tank” (aka “think tank” which is actually the kitchen table) and brainstormed a new way to get this art out into the community where loads of people can see it and be inspired by these incredible kids. Of course, being an entrepreneurial social business, we had to work in making some money in the process. And include getting more and more business people engaged in Fresh Artists. Easy, eh?

Our January installation at Red Cross House is the culmination of this pilot program! Yippee!

Here’s how it goes…stay with me now…

1- Fresh Artists partnered with World Cafe Live, a snazzy new-music venue and cafe on the Penn campus and home to super-cool public radio station, WXPN. Always jumping with adults and kid’s rock, pop, jazz and folk concerts…the place is a beehive of activity…and complements our “brand”…eg. FRESH!  With the happy encouragement of World Cafe’s founder/owner Hal Real, we filled the place with kid’s art from our collection, and committed to refresh the entire installation every year. The employees of World Cafe Live (chefs, waiters, dishwashers) get to choose the art.

2-We install 15 pieces of Fresh Artists’ large-format reproductions of kid’s art for a year.

3-In the fall, we replace each piece with a new piece, again chosen by vote of the WCL employees!

4-We move the previously-exhibited artwork into a community nonprofit that wants “freshening up”.

And here’s the “Bottom Line”…the money part:
This Fresh Artists’ program is supported by an annual bash at the World Cafe that they host (and pay for!) called “Salon on the Schuykill”.  Our wonderful Business Advisory Council has adopted this event, and takes responsibility for finding 15+ businesses to “adopt” each piece of artwork. Their sponsorship is proudly announced on the wall label of both the NEW art installed at World Cafe Live for the year, as well as with the RECYCLED art installed permanently in the nonprofit community partner.  They are honored at the Salon, and a special art opening at the new community installation (coming soon!)  Suggestions for community partnership are encouraged from our art sponsors. Sponsors also may receive a piece of artwork for their own offices as part of their sponsorship package, as well as eing invited to sit on the Fresh Artists Business Advisory Council to help plan next year’s bash at World Cafe Live!  Cool, eh?

So…..Voila!

• Fresh art for tens of thousands of all ages to enjoy at World Cafe Live
• Fresh art for a severely financially and visually under-resourced charity
• Funds raised to support the innovative art programs and supplies deliveries of Fresh Artists
• Steady stream of engaged and inspired new business people making a difference for kids
• Sponsors receive long-term public recognition in high visibility locations
• Sponsors receive artwork for their own offices with dedication wall label recognition
• Sponsors have a useful networking and client entertainment event that’s informal, fresh and fun

Fresh Art-vocates assembled at World Cafe Live for the Second Annual Salon on the Schuylkill.  This annual fundraising event showcases new art installed for a year-long exhibition in public spaces throughout this popular new music cafe/cabaret. The World Cafe Live staff, waiters, dishwashers, chefs and bartenders vote on the art they want on their walls from the more than 500 pieces in the Fresh Artists collection. The art installed last year will be removed and re-installed as a gift to Red Cross House at 40th and Powelton Avenue in West Philadelphia, a family shelter for disaster victims.  We were pleased to have Donna Palmieri, COO and Interim CEO of Southeastern PA Red Cross Chapter attend the Friday Salon event. She expressed her delight and gratitude for being chosen as recipient of Fresh Artist’s artwork, “This beautiful and inspirational artwork will bring so much pleasure to the families staying in our Red Cross House Center for Disaster Recovery. The images are positive, bright and most importantly, hopeful.  I can’t wait to see the artwork displayed on the walls throughout the Red Cross House and the joy the artwork will bring to the children and adults recovering from a disaster at our transitional housing facility!”

Thanks to our generous Salon Sponsors: Anapol, Schwartz, Elliott-Lewis Corporation, Robert and Marcy Fenza, The Glenmede Trust Company, Goodwin College of Professional Studies, Drexel University, Hangley, Aronchick, Segal and Pudlin, Haworth, In Posse, LLC, Martin Banks, The Neiman Group, SAP, Pearl Pressman Liberty Communications Group, Steelcase Philadelphia: Steelcase GCC, Coalesse, Designtex, Corporate Interiors. Their sponsorship makes it possible for more than 170,000 people a year to have the pleasure of seeing this brilliant children’s artwork by placing “fresh” art into World Cafe and moving the “retired” artwork out  to our community partner, Red Cross House.

Advisory Board President Bob Reid of Elevate Architects + Collaborators with Fresh Artists president, Barbara Chandler Allen

Fresh Artists board member Heather Gibson with Advisory Council’s Jim Pinheiro of Pearl Pressman Liberty

Laresha Williams (CAPA ’14), stopped by with her aunt, and enjoyed seeing the artwork that she donated to Fresh Artists when she was in 7th grade reproduced as large digital prints.  Her interpretations of Matisse’s Red Madras Headdress” and di Chirico’s Portrait of Dr. Barnes, were part of the Fresh Artists-Barnes Foundation Partnership Project.

Laresha‘s artwork was part of a specially designed interactive photo-booth experience called “Silly Salon” created for the party by Seth Shimkonis, Rachael Lufkin of Jihm Booth with design assistance from Fresh Artists co-founder, Roger Allen.  Images on the backdrop were selected from the Fresh Artists collection of mini-masterpieces interpreted from the Barnes Foundation Collection by K through 7th graders under the guidance of art teachers Robyn Miller (Hancock Elementary) and Evelyn Bock (Henry Elementary). Photoshopped into digital reproductions of glorious gold-leafed museum-quality picture frames from Godel & Co. in New York, the pictures recreated a turn of the century French “salon” with heavy currant-colored drapes, and fun props like mustaches, top hats and chalk boards that became customized “speech bubbles” for event guest hilarity.

More than 300 people attended this year’s event, and enjoyed drinksand hors d’oeuvres graciously provided by Lisa Margraff, Food and Beverage Manager of World Cafe Live, and live music donated by the ten-piece hip hop band, Wyld Lyfe (Semaj Worrell and Crew) and Brooklyn’s Double Rainbow (Gardner Allen and Tim Laursen) complete with 5 outrageous automated robotic drummers!

Thank you to the Business Advisory Council, led by architect Bob Reid of Elevate Architects + Collaborators for adopting the Salon as their project: Jennifer Braxton (IKEA), Nicole Carville (Haworth), Rob Diemer (In Posse), Rosemarie Fabien (Fabien Communications), Lauren Fantini (Caroselli, Beachler), Heather Gibson (Sentry Art Advisory Services), Ken Johnson (Glaxo Smith Kline), Valerie Lagauskas (Event Navigators), Lori Morrissey (SAP), Jim Pinheiro (Pearl Pressman Liberty), Suzanne Schwartz (Tasty Baking Company), Suzanne Turk (Goodwin College, Drexel), Jerri Williams (SEPTA), Susan Yeager (Arch Insurance Group).

Fresh Artists co-founder and creative director Roger Allen with Merry Wiggins, Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Show project coordinator

Thanks to the to the wonderful board and staff of Fresh Artists: Nancy Wolff, Heather Gibson, Christine James, Laura Bernardo, Roger Allen, Merry Wiggins, Steve Trueman and our amazingly talented and delightful intern from CAPA, Andrew Diemer!  Here are a bunch of terrific photographs courtesy of the following photographers who donated their professional services for the event:  Seth  Shimkonis and Rachael Lufkin of JIHM BOOTH and Viviana Pernot.

Suzanne Schwartz (Tasty Baking), Susan Yeager (Arch Insurance)

DiD Marketing

Maya Glavin, Liz Trost and Tim Laursen

Hancock Art teacher, Robyn Miller and B. Allen

Janine, Jason and Fresh Artists board member Christine James

Fresh Artists Project Assistant Laura Bernardo and author of Pablo, the Philly Philanthropist Steve Trueman

Clothesline Coordinator Merry Wiggins with CAPA intern Andrew Diemer

The Neiman Group, Fresh Artists Media partner

Double Rainbow (Tim Laursen, Gardner Allen and The Robot Drummers)

Fresh Artists Business Advisory Council members Jim Pinheiro (Pearl Pressmen) and Jennifer Braxton (IKEA)

Kindergarten artist-philantropist Kaitlyn Deng's artwork

Helen Diemer (The Lighting Practice) and Tom Normile (Keast and Hood Engineers)

Florcy Morrisett and friends with third grader Akayla Denmark-Howard's Sunflowers

Laresha's aunt, Laresha, and Barbara Allen

from a tiny backyard birthday "Clothesline"...

to a huge community “Clothesline” at the Chestnut Hill “Fall for the Arts” street festival

we’re off and running with our new grassroots initiative in children’s philanthropy!

When Juliana turned 9, she asked for an “art” birthday party and wanted to help other children less fortunate than she. Fresh Artists provided a template for a small, simple art activity for 8 young girls to do at the sleep-over, and was such a success the girls went right back to making the bright paper mosaics as soon as they awoke the next morning. After pinning their artwork up on the clothesline, they invited their parents to view their show, and make donations for art supplies for children in severely under-resourced public schools in the inner city. Proud to send in their donation, the girls had fun and were thrilled to know they provided watercolor sets for a whole class of elementary school children through their generosity.

The First Annual Chestnut Hill Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Show and Sale was also a smash success. More than 400 children donated their artwork for the benefit of under resourced public schools and generated over $800 in donations.  26 private and public schools answered the “call for donations” as well as many home-schooled children throughout the area. Weavers Way Coop sponsored the event, and provided refreshments for the Sign Studio children who made the artwork decorating their new grocery store.

Sign Studio artists with their artwork installation in the produce department of Weavers Way Food Coop

Patrons from Rotary and Electrical Wizardry honor the generous children

young artist-philanthropist hanging her art

Our message to the world is clear and unequivocal!

Kids were our biggest customers for art!

Volunteers Sue Davis and Ken Johnson with Fresh Artists founder Barbara Chandler Allen

Thanks go to our generous patrons of Sign Studio: The Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill, Electrical Wizardry, Inc, and Carol Tyler for making this innovative pilot project possible.  Also thanks are due to the Terrific Clothesline Team, Merry Wiggins, Andrew Diemer, Evelyn and Hoagie Bock, Sue Davis, Ken Johnson, Anne Galbally, Lucretia Robbins, Roger Allen, Robyn Miller, Eileen Rudnick, Valerie van Pham, Dylan Spellman-Hall, and the Weavers Way team led by Glenn Bergman, Annette Aloe, Pat Evans, and Kim Spellman-Hall.

Any child, family, scout group or school interested in holding their own Clothesline Art Show and Sale, please call us at 215-920-3317 and we will provide all kinds of help to you.

Come celebrate the fresh children’s artwork installed throughout the World Cafe Live on Friday, October 22nd. With the support of generous corporate sponsors, we are refreshing the public spaces of the hottest music venue on the East Coast with brilliant artwork made and donated by K-12 Philadelphia school children.  Each sponsor is adopting a work of art that was installed last fall, and recycling it out into the community to freshen up a nonprofit community partner’s facilities. The sponsor’s name and logo will accompany the permanently-installed recycled artwork panels.  The sponsorship includes the new, fresh large-scale digital artwork that will be installed in its place for the next 12 months. To see details of this innovative sponsorship opportunity, click here freshartists_salon.

Our innovative partnership with World Cafe Live began last year, with their employees (wait-staff, bartenders, dishwashers and cooks) choosing 15 large-scale reproductions of artwork from the Fresh Artists collection to decorate the walls of their hip music cabaret. The response was so positive that they offered to host this fun party for Fresh Artists as an annual fundraising event to support artmaking and philanthropy among city kids. Most of the staff of the World Cafe Live are accomplished artists and musicians who care about keeping art alive in our public schools so it was a great fit. World Cafe Live founder Hal Real is an enthusiastic and generous supporter of Fresh Artists.

Jim Pinheiro of Pearl Pressman with artwork donated by Alex Valles CAPA '10

Art teacher Linda Heeg of MLK High School admiring the work of her student, Fresh Artists philanthropist, Angelina Hinson, installed at the World Cafe Live

In addition to viewing the freshest artwork in town, sponsors and guests will enjoy live music donated by our friends, Wyld Lyfe, plenty of beer, wine, soft drinks and a delicious Mediterreanean buffet for heavy grazing. A “merch” table will be front and center, filled with cool Fresh Artists stuff…t-shirts, posters, calendars and children’s box games, featuring the artwork donated by some of the 510 young artist-philanthropists that comprise Fresh Artists. Great place for unusual and meaningful holiday gifts!

Whether you sponsor (adopt) a work of art (hurry, they’re going fast!) or buy a handful of tickets ($15 each)…call up your pals, that bunch of special clients or someone you wish was a client…and make a date to meet after work on Friday, October 22nd, from 5:00 pm to 9:00.  Bask in the wonderful, inspirational artwork made by these generous K-12 kids, listen to great live music, have a drink and delicious food donated by the World Cafe Live, served by young artists and musicians who care deeply about nurturing and equipping the next generation of our creative economy. We promise you will be uplifted, engaged and inspired. Pretty cool for a Friday night on the way home from work!

Salon on the Schuylkill is an annual event organized by the Fresh Artists Business Advisory Council. The Council is led by Bob Reid AIA, Elevate Architects + Collaborators and includes the following wonderful team:

Jennifer Braxton (IKEA), Nicole Carville (Haworth), Rob Diemer (In Posse), Rosemarie Fabien (Fabien Communications), Lauren Fantini, Esq. (Caroselli, Beachler, McTIerney Conboy), Shawn Gibbons (CI Solutions LLC), Heather Gibson (Sentry Art Advisors), Jennifer Heller (Comcast Corporation), Valerie Lagauskas (Event Navigators), Lori Morrissey (SAP), Jim Pinheiro (Pearl Pressman Liberty Communications Group), Jeffrey Totaro (Jeffrey Totaro Photographer), Suzanne Turk (Goodwin College, Drexel University), Jerria Williams (SEPTA), Susan Yeager (Arch Insurance). If you are interested in getting involved, please call Barbara Chandler Allen, 215-920-3317.

Fresh Artists Business Advisory Council

Pablo's Clothesline Art Show Design Team: From rear left: Andrew Diemer, Class of '12 Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), Evelyn Bock, freshly retired art teacher from Henry Elementary, Hilary Merzbacher, Fresh Artist program assistant, painter and recent graduate of Rhode Island School of Design. Front left to right: Janet Carey, artist and junior at Montgomery Community College, Meredith Wiggins, family therapist, artist and Fresh Artists Clothesline Program Coordinator. (Not present at this meeting, but part of the team are Sue Davis, social worker and community activist, and Lucretia Robbins, painter, retired art teacher and private art instructor of plein aire painting for children)

Remember the idea we were cooking in the spring…a way for ALL kids to play an active role as philanthropists by hosting a Clothesline Art Show in their own community? Well…we have been working on this all summer! The first thing we did was to bring together a really smart and energetic group of people to brainstorm. See this bright group above.

THE TEAM

We met, made a plan and fanned out to contact schools, church groups, summer camps, a private art instructor, several retired and retiring art teachers, our local healthy food cooperative, and several families of Fresh Artists kids around the region to get their input.  A member of our Business Advisory Council, Rosemarie Fabien, introduced us to Liz Scott, the mother of Alex of Alex’s Lemonade Stand. We figured she could give us some advice on how to start a really successful grassroots initiative for young children. Alex’s Lemonade Stand is 10 years old, and has raised more than $35 million. Kids love to be involved with this wonderful organization and we sure could use their tips on how build this program…and do lots of good things for kids.  Liz told us about their history, gave us tons of ideas, and was very encouraging.

KIDS CAN START NOW AND HOLD A FRESH ARTISTS CLOTHESLINE ART SHOW

Click here to download complete instructions on how to organize a Clothesline Art Show.

freshartists-clotheslineartshow3

CLOTHESLINE KITS FREE TO THE CHILDREN!

By Thanksgiving, we plan to have an entire website page devoted to Clothesline. Then, when a youngster wants to do a Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Show, he or she, with the help of a trusted grownup, register on our website.  Registration will provide them with a kit of materials (name badges, art price tags, certificates of philanthropy, sample flyers, tips for making art projects and perhaps a coupon for a free clothesline!)  Also, a trained volunteer coach will call or email them to give some pointers on how to have a successful event.  We are harnessing the army of retiring art teachers and inviting them to help us as volunteer coaches!  Evelyn Bock, 37-year veteran elementary school art teacher has agreed to be the leader of the coaches, and she and Robyn Miller are helping Meredith Wiggins develop some easy, fun art projects that non-art people can do with their kids.

PABLO: THE SEQUEL (next the movie?)

As is our habit, we have written a second children’s story, Pablo’s Big Idea!, to explain the purpose and process of Clothesline Art Shows to young children. We asked Steve Trueman, author of our first story, Pablo the Philly Philanthropist, to help us tell the story and Gardner Allen, illustrator of Pablo, eagerly agreed to make drawings to accompany the story.  We asked two terrific young ladies to help us with the story, Molly (3rd grade) and Hope (4th grade). Both girls are extremely creative young artist-philanthropists who have together given eleven works of art to Fresh Artists!  They jumped right in and created Pablo’s dog’s personality and the perfect name, “Luna”.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY!  Pablo Story #2

We thought it would be fun to ask kids how the Clothesline story should develop…so we are inviting anyone to give us suggestions about the plot, the characters and the illustrations.  Here is what we have so far with about 12 people weighing in on all aspects!  The drawings are in a preliminary state, so kids can see how an illustrator works.  Very sketch sketches first, then solid line drawings, then color is applied.  In this case, the illustrator is using Photoshop to apply the colors.  Many more drawings are needed, and are being worked upon as I write.  We will post the finished product here and it will be part of the Kit that all children receive when they register to hold a Clothesline Art Show.

We welcome any child or groups of children to hold a Clothesline Art Show to benefit schools in need. Please contact Barbara Chandler Allen, at 215-920-3317 for more information.

June 10, 2010, Philadelphia – A bumper-crop of 180 new Fresh Artists were honored at our annual “Sprout Fest” (annual celebration to honor our new, young artist-philanthropists) on June 10th in the beautiful Atrium of the Education Center. Young artists from kindergarten through 12th grade received thunderous applause from the more than 250 adults who came to congratulate them for their philanthropic gifts and extraordinary artistic talent.

This year’s Collection adds work from the partnership with the world-famous Barnes Foundation (mini-masterpieces “adopted” and interpreted by K-7 Fresh Artists kids).

Fresh Artists' 4th grade artwork coming soon to an installation on the Barnes Foundation construction fence

This year, we were proud honor Josh Giblin, Merchandising Manager of Weaver’s Way Food Co-op in Mt. Airy for helping us develop our new K-5 student-centric nonprofit design initiative called “Fresh Artists Sign Studio“, our new K-5 student-centric nonprofit design initiative.  The 18 children who made the vibrant paper mosaic pictographs of fruit, veggies and other healthy grocery store items were acknowledge by their “client” and the crowd assembled. All images are now available to our donors and will be seen throughout the little cooperative grocery store within the next couple of weeks.

Installation Fresh Artists work coming soon to the produce department of the new Chestnut Hill store of Weaver's Way Co-op.

The adoring crowd of parents, aunties, principals, corporate donors, art teachers and press were treated to the premiere dramatic reading of Fresh Artists first children’s book, Pablo, the Philly Philanthropist, written by Stephen Trueman with founder Barbara Chandler Allen. The book was illustrated by Gardner Allen and art directed by Roger Allen, Fresh Artists Design Director. The cast of readers was headlined by the unsinkable sparkle-plenty Molly McQuoid (grade 3) reading the part of Pablo.  Molly is an accomplished actor, currently appearing in Carousel at Plays and Players Theater!  Stephen Trueman, author, narrated. This wonderful children’s book can be read on our website by clicking the Pablo button on the front page.

Molly McQuoid and Steve Trueman reading "Pablo"

A cast of Fresh Artists community champions and volunteers played roles in the dramatic reading of Pablo, with Fresh Artists board member Nancy Wolff (above),playing Ms. Clarke, art teacher Robyn Miller, playing Pablo’s beloved art teacher and Ludy Soderman (head of the School District’s Office of Translation) as Pablo’s Tia Carla. Ludy personally translated “Pablo” into Spanish for us.  Jason James, Quincy Ellis and Luis Hernandez also did a terrific job reading parts.

Cheering the children on was Philadelphia School Reform Commissioner Johnny Irizarry, who also spoke directly to the children about staying true to their creative natures. Mr. Irizarry, himself an artist, spoke about how painting has enriched his life over the years. Head of the District’s Department of Creative & Performing Art, Dennis Creedon, also had inspiring words for the children.

Philadelphia School Reform Commissioner Johnny Irizarry spoke passionately to the children

An inscribed first edition of “Pablo” was given to every new Fresh Artist, as well as to their art teachers.  The kids kept author Trueman (below) autographing their copies for over an hour!  We are grateful to Jim Pinheiro of Pearl Pressman Liberty (PPL) Communications Group who helped with the printing of Pablo. PPL has filled their new headquarters/plant near the airport with Fresh Artists artwork.

Publication of the new book ”Pablo, the Philly Philanthropist“ was made possible by generous gifts from Barbara and Isaac Clothier in memory of their daughter, Melinda Clothier Biddle and Elizabeth Beatty, by C. Gloria Akers in honor of Delta Sigma Theta, and by Health Partners Foundation. The new book is available for a donation of $25 plus $5 postage by sending a check to Fresh Artists, P.O. Box 44, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444.  It will be available on our website as soon as we can get an e-commerce capability on the site! Any web developers out there who would like to make this happen for Fresh Artists, please let us know!

Pablo donors meet: Gloria Akers greets Barbara and Quartie Clothier

Each young artist-philanthropist went home with a 2010 limited edition t-shirt with their artwork on it and a framed “certificate of extraordinary artistic and philanthropic achievement” designed for us by well-known author David Macaulay, Advisory Board member and long-time Fresh Artists champion.

Each young artist-philanthropist wore the special “front stage pass” lanyard emblazoned with a full color reproduction of their donated artwork, so that all guests would be sure to talk with the youngsters about the art they donated.

NEWS FLASH! Within 24 hours of being inducted into Fresh Artists, the artwork (shown below) of kindergartener Rovic Merginio (shown above discussing his artwork with founder Barbara Allen) was chosen to be installed in the front hall of Drexel University’s Goodwin College of Professional Studies!

Kindergarten artist-philanthropist Rovic Merginio's artwork

This year, an new tradition was inaugurated: the gift of two little art kits, each containing a set of 12 professional oil pastels and a sketchbook, one for each of the Fresh Artists to keep for themselves, and one for each child to “pass along” and give to another child as a tangible, active symbol of the philanthropy of children. This idea came from Meredith Allen Wiggins, the editor of “Pablo“.  Art supplies were generously given by the Fresh Artists Business Advisory Council led by Bob Reid (Elevate Architects + Collaborators) and Heather Gibson (Sentry Art Advisors), as well as Merion Art and Repro (our art supply vendor), and Jan Van der Lande and Laura Kellner, of global design-leader, Kikkerland Design.

Fresh Artists  granted  its first Scholarship Award of art supplies  to Senior Fresh Artist Alexandra Valles. Alex will start her college career as an art major at Penn State Main Campus. Beginning in the 6^th grade, Alex donated four pieces of her artwork to Fresh Artists, and 15 corporations have chosen her artwork over the past three years. Alex’s philanthropy has made it possible to deliver art supplies to thousands of children in Philadelphia, and we are grateful for  her generosity. Senior Fresh Artist Alexandra Valles was given a scholarship of art supplies to start her college career as an art major at Penn State Main Campus. Alex has donated four pieces of her artwork, starting with piece she made as a sixth-grader at Greenerg Elementary!  Alex’s philanthropy has made it possible to deliver art supplies to thousands of children in Philadelphia as a result of 15 corporations choosing her artwork over the past three years. Fresh Artists wishes all its graduating seniors the very best as they go forth into the world.

We thank Chef John Gallagher, Head of the Pastry Department at the Restaurant School, whose students made and donated 600 special Fresh Artists signature sugar cookies in the shape of artist’s palettes in honor of the children, and to Jennifer Braxton, IKEA North America, for their delicious cookies.

At the end of the program everyone who had made and donated art, corporate and individual donors, parents and art teachers and all Fresh Artists’ staff and volunteers were asked to stand. That left very few sitting!

Barbara Allen asked everyone present to “Close your eyes…tight! No peeking,” and to imagine a gi-normous mountain of art supplies in front of them:

- 981 jars of tempera paint,

- 320 pounds of clay,

- 10,104 sticks of oil pastels,

- 25,016 sheets of heavy white drawing paper, and

- 5,800 juicy new colored markers

Barbara continued, reading from their newly published book, “Did I do this?” Pablo asked. “Yes,” Ms. Kelley says, “You did this!  Your art and your giving made a difference!” Barbara went on to say, “Now open your eyes. Everyone standing actually made this happen.  The children who made and donated their artwork… the teachers who guided these children in new techniques, skills and creativity… the parents who encouraged and praised them, putting their artwork on the fridge with big, fat magnets…and the generous corporate, foundation and individual donors who gave money to purchase the art supplies.”

Sprout Fest 2010 celebrates the powerful philanthropy of children, leading us all to be more generous change agents.  Thanks to all the generous children and all who support them as they go forth to make a substantive difference in the world!

(Special thanks to our talented photographers, Seth Shimkonis and Andrea Tucker, who generously donated their services for the Sprout Fest)

We are proud of what we all have achieved in just two years:

• Placed 250 works of art in high-profile businesses throughout our region, Michigan, Washington D.C. and Massachusetts
• Received the gift of artwork from 395 generous and creative children
• Delivered the retail value of more than $100,300 in art supplies to 265 severely under-resourced inner-city art teachers

• Writing a children’s book called Pablo the Philly Philanthropist. Pablo loved to draw and paint, and sometimes got in trouble for drawing when he should have been doing something else. A talented boy, Pablo was invited by Fresh Artists to donate the use of his artwork to their program to help other kids in his city. Pablo agreed, and is told he is now a “philanthropist”.  He doesn’t understand the impact of his giving until he actually sees large-scale reproductions of his artwork hung in a large office building, and watches boxes of art supplies pour into his school.

Pablo is eight and three-quarters

He gets in trouble all the time for drawing.

I am profoundly grateful to three creative young men who have helped me:  Stephen Trueman, an aspiring children’s book writer jumped in and wrote a really charming narrative.  My son, Gardner Allen, volunteered to do the fabulous illustrations. Roger, my younger son and co-founder of Fresh Artists, has been doing a terrific job coordinating the artwork, graphic design, layout and pre-press work.

The book is now on our webpage (button on the homepage) in beta format and we will be printing it this month for use in our program. Love to have input, so please write us and give us your thoughts.  We hope to see it on Amazon in the future!

"Pablo" collaborators Gardner Allen (illustrator) and Steve Trueman (author)

• Designing a children’s box game based on the classic “memory” or concentration game, using the brilliant images from the Fresh Artists collection. We hope to have this inter-generational game widely distributed through the network of art and children’s museum shops, highlighting Fresh Artists’ mission of empowering the philanthropy of children through their artwork.

Prototype box game

• Creating “Sign Studio”, a real-life social entrepreneurial business where kids make and donate their art, see it used in a real-life application they can understand (a grocery store), and actively participate in delivering the art supplies to children in need within their community.

Please read the previous post to hear and see about Sign Studio!