Fresh Artists Blog 

Tune in this Saturday!

Fresh Artists Founder Barbara Chandler Allen is the opening speaker at 1:00 pm

streaming live on the internet at
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tedxphiladelphiaed

Fresh Artists is thrilled and honored to have an amazing presence at the upcoming TEDx event in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 25. Our founder, Barbara Chandler Allen, has been invited to give the opening TED talk at this event, which takes place at Huntsman Hall at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

The signature large-format digital reproductions of children’s artwork from the Fresh Artists collection will decorate the Baker Forum where the brainstorming activities between sessions will occur. Fresh Artists teens will be acting as the facilitators for this inter-session electronic journaling and art making on six giant interactive kiosks around the Forum.

The vibrant children’s artwork will also grace the iconic giant TEDx logo letters on the stage, along with recreations of Independence Hall, City Hall and the Liberty Bell made by 2nd through 5th graders at Hancock School under the brilliant direction of art teacher Robyn Miller.

Tune in this Saturday at 1:00 pm to watch us reach a global audience with the unique and effective message and mission. Follow the link above!

We are thrilled to announce Fresh Artists is a $75,000 winner in the Miami-based  for “best ideas” in arts innovation. With the additional local match of $75,000 from the CHG Charitable Trust we will develop the Fresh Artists Print Studio where inner city teen apprentices will learn large-format digital art printing by producing our signature Fresh Artists work for corporate client/donors. This is the next step in our original vision to have Fresh Artists be a child-centric philanthropic social business. Thank you, Knight Foundation and Carole Haas Gravagno for taking us into this next, exciting phase of Fresh Artists!

Read more…

And the same day that we won the Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia, we were covered in a full page article in the Wall Street Journal!
Read on…

Fresh Artists Angel Carole Haas Gravagno with board at Knight Foundation announcement event NEW ART ACQUISITIONS FOR 2011

This year’s new Collection is the strongest ever.  125 new pieces of art have been donated from delightful 2nd grade interpretations of beneficial bacteria to several astonishing charcoal self portraits created in senior art classes. We have invited the Norristown Area School District to join Fresh Artists and 15 students have donated their artwork to this year’s collection.

Self-Portrait by Lawrence Cryor, Norristown Area High School, Grade 12, Charcoal on paper

"Good Bacteria" by Jack Chen, Grade 2, A.S. Jenks ES

Intern Andrew Diemer, Creative & Performing Arts HS helps Laura Bernardo catalogue new accessions

FRESH ARTISTS MAKES THIRD ANNUAL DELIVERY OF ART SUPPLIES TO TEACHERS

We delivered the retail value of more than $17,000 in art supplies to Philadelphia’s most severely under-resourced art teachers this spring. This brings the the total retail value of art supplies delivered in our first three years to $117,000.

Julia deBurgos ES art teacher Jeanne Fontaine collects art supplies from Fresh Artists, with Tessie Varthas of the School District of Philadelphia

COSMIC CAFE AT LLOYD HALL OPENS WITH FRESH ARTWORKS

Chef Peg Botto has been following Fresh Artists for years.  As soon as she sealed the deal to rent riverside space in Lloyd Hall through Fairmount Park, she contacted us for healthy food Sign Studio artwork.  We installed 16 large images…here are tossed salad, club sandwich, tomato soup and garlic made by 3rd thru 5th graders at Hancock ES. Pretty cool, eh?

Upstairs at Cosmic Cafe, Lloyd Hall, Boathouse Row, Philadelphia

SERVICEPOINT USA EXECUTIVE VISITS FRESH ARTISTS

Alex Brame of Service Point USA came down from New York City to see the work his company printed for the Fresh Artists-Barnes Foundation Project Exhibition. The Philadelphia office of Service Point USA provides the high-quality, large-format ink-jet prints that have become Fresh Artists’ signature in the corporate workplace.

Alex Brame of Service Point USA's New York office marveling at Fresh Artists children's interpretations of Cezanne's masterpieces. Holding the "original" child's work, the large-format digital reproduction is on the wall behind them

SIGN STUDIO WORKING ON THEIR FRESH SPRING LINE

The ever-expanding collection of healthy food artwork now includes radishes, asparagus, watermelon, a citrus medley and baby lettuces.  All will be available this summer at the Fresh Artists Virtual Farm Stand!

Radishes by Janine B. and Nina C., grade 6

Kathleen L. with her watermelon in process

SIGN STUDIO KIDS DELIVER THE GOODS

The young artist-philanthropist-entrepreneurs delivered $500 in art supplies to Art teacher Andrew Zimmerman and his 2nd graders at Howe Elementary School in North Philadelphia. This was the culmination of Fresh Artists Sign Studio, the year-long pilot project where 3rd – 5th graders at Hancock Elementary voluntarily made healthy food artwork for a “client”, Weavers Way Co-Operative. Funds were raised to cover the cost of the food signs to be made and installed in the new little grocery store and the kids were honored by the co-op in October. A needy school in North Philadelphia was identified, and the kids delivered the art supplies purchased with funds they raised.  After hauling the hundreds of pounds of supplies into the school, they taught Howe’s second graders how to make the beautiful paper mosaics that Sign Studio has become famous for…thus passing along not only much-needed art supplies but also a precious skill they have acquired from their beloved art teacher, Robyn Miller. It was pretty moving.

We are grateful to professional photographer, Joan Cimino, who volunteered to document this important day for us with sensitivity and skill.  Look at these brilliant photos!  And to talented writer Maureen Neville,who captured the children’s impressions in words. Thank you, Joan and Maureen!

Part of the fun was struggling to carry the pounds of art supplies they brought! photo: Joan Cimino

Fresh Artists' kids help open the Art Kits they brought. photo: Joan Cimino

Marium A. teaches Howe School student her techniques for mosaic magic photo: Joan Cimino

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

We have just completed an enormous installation of 170 pieces of our children’s artwork at Safe Shores, a Child Advocacy Center on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Michele Booth Cole, Executive Director of Safe Shores, discovered Fresh Artists when we were exhibiting our program at the national leadership conference of the National Children’s Alliance in May. Safe Shores, a 40,000 sf. state of the art facility caring for children who have been sexually abused and maltreated, had just been finished, and the had miles of clean, blank walls crying for artwork! We thank Michele for inviting Fresh Artists into this amazing place of healing and care.

Safe Shores occupies the former Bundy Elementary School in NW DC

Hallways were transformed

The Safe Shores staff voted on their favorite artwork from the Fresh Artists’ collection and artist-philanthropist Sara Hendrix, Creative Director Roger Allen and founder Barbara Chandler Allen assisted them in placing their choices throughout the building. Stairwells, hallways and treatment rooms were transformed with vibrant welcoming artwork.

"Silly City" tableau by 2nd and 3rd graders

Children welcome children at reception desk

Children are greeted with three beautiful faces of children made by third graders when they enter the building. These faces send a clear a message to the children that this is a child-centered, safe place. Every room they enter has a piece of artwork made by a kindergarten through 12th grader. Wall labels tell the artist’s name and grade, assuring the children that this is “their place”.

Safe Shores Executive Director Michele Booth Cole with Fresh Artists installation team in front of Amanda Long's artwork

As confidentiality is so important in a CAC, we had to install the artwork during hours that there were no clients in the building. Our high school intern, volunteer Andrew Diemer, helped us install the bulk of artwork over the Labor Day weekend.  Fresh Artists installation technicians Hilary Merzbacher and Quincy Ellis, both graduates of Rhode Island Design, were on the installation team as well. We installed 137 pieces in three days and nights. When we returned over the Halloween weekend to finish the job with an additional 33 pieces, we heard stories from Safe Shores staff about the strong impact the artwork had on the children who came for forensic interviews, examinations, treatment and therapy…but also the impact the artwork had on the staff. “The artwork has brought a visual message of hope into the building. The images are positive, brilliant, and comforting. It is uplifting in a place that sees great sadness,” a veteran social worker told us.  We were all moved by the stories we heard while working there, and very proud that we could in some way help the thousands of children who will come through Safe Shores each year.

Shereen Williams, DC Public Schools, toured the artwork with Fresh Artists founder, Barbara Chandler Allen and Executive Director Michele Booth Cole

Staff breakroom with fresh food series

6th grader's inspiration from Georgia O'Keefe brightens up a workstation

"rainbow map" greets people as they enter the auditorium

The artwork was made possible by a grant from the Washington Children’s Foundation.

Although Fresh Artists was designed as primarily as a corporate art program, our vision was to also help nonprofits serving vulnerable children. That time has come and we are busy filling child advocacy centers like Safe Shores in DC, the Bucks County Child Advocacy Center, the Philadelphia Children’s Alliance and the Willow Tree Center in Green Bay Wisconsin with the healing, transformative artwork of our generous, caring children.

Reception room at Philadelphia Children's Alliance CAC

Photo credits: Seth Shimkonis, Roger Allen

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

At the request of many Fresh Artists friends, we are introducing several exciting new art-embellished products featuring the children’s artwork at our annual funds & friendraising event at the World Cafe Live Friday, October 22.

We have put a new spin on the classic “memory” game by designing three signature sets using artwork from our collection. . The heirloom sets of brightly colored artwork decoupaged by hand onto 2″ polished hardwood tiles and glazed with a high-gloss acrylic are packaged in a recycled paper box and include the mission of Fresh Artists and a list of the young artist-philanthropists who donated their artwork to help other children. These charming handmade game sets are crafted by a volunteer cadre of dedicated retired art teachers who are committed to supporting Fresh Artist by making art, staying in touch with each other and mentoring new teachers!

Fresh Faces Memory Game

Fresh Faces features 16 bright faces in mosaic, oil crayon, watercolor and block printing from Lady Liberty done by a seventh grade Masterman School student to a vibrant self-portrait oil pastel by a graduating senior from the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). For an additional donation, we will customize your game set by inserting two photograph faces of your own choice…your children, parents or favorite animals!

Fresh Food is a tribute to healthy eating featuring the new Sign Studio Collection of paper mosaic fruits and veggies designed for interior signage in local organic food cooperatives.  Blueberries, peppers, a club sandwich and trout tiles in jewel tones make playing this game both fun and educational for youngsters learning to make healthy eating choices.

Fresh Food Memory Game - luscious images of healthy choices

Fresh Art is the set of tiles highlighting the favorite pieces from our collection like Penguins, Dancing Koi, City Blocks (a Cubist take on Philadelphia’s “Old City” with the Ben Franklin bridge in the background), a star “mini-Matisse” from our Barnes Foundation partnership, and the now-famous kindergarten piece, “Seven Ants on My Pizza”!

Fresh Art - favorites from our Collection

The Fresh Artists Memory Games are the perfect inter-generational activity…a charming activity for the upcoming holidays. As engaging to grandparents as it is to very young children, these sets are magnets bringing all ages together at your holiday table.

We are offering four exquisitely matted and framed reproductions, printed on rag paper by Silicon Graphics Fine Art Prints for the first time. Alexandra Valles‘ popular drawing of the city skyline, City Crane, and Sara Hendrix’ moving self portrait of her grandmother holding Sara as an infant will be available at the event as special orders for holiday gifts.  Fifth grader Matthew Ryncyzk’s brilliant interpretation of Soutine’s 1919 masterpiece from the Barnes Foundation, The Little Pastry Cook, is breathtaking and would make any a fascinating gift for any art lover or passionate “foodie”.  Rounding out our first framed collection is a group of four luscious fruits and vegetables from the Sign Studio Collection, “The Fresher the Better”, by 3rd and 4th grade artist-philanthropists…perfect for a kitchen or breakfast room wall.

Offered as matted and framed print on rag paper, classic black wooden frame, for special order at Salon event

Our first children’s book, Pablo the Philly Philanthropist, will also be available, with the author, Steve Trueman, and the illustrator, Gardner Allen, present at the World Cafe Live to personalize and autograph your purchases for a special child.  Two special edition t-shirts have been commissioned for the event, the healthy food “Fresher the Better” graphic and a handsome dark gray Fresh Artists logo tee.

Thanks to our generous friends at Pearl Pressman Liberty Communications Group, the 2011 Fresh Artists Executive Desk Calendar will again be available at our Salon event.  A personal miniature art-gallery-on your-desk, this beautifully printed, sophisticated 12-month calendar shows off the artwork of exceptionally talents kids from kindergarden through 12th grade. A great gift for anyone, make sure to get one for yourself!

One stop shopping for innovative and meaningful gifts for your holiday gift-giving! Some quantities are limited. Come early for the best selection.

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.