Frequently Asked Questions 

What is Fresh Artists’ mission?
To promote access for all children to the healing, transformative self‐expression
of art making and philanthropy.

What are the goals of Fresh Artists?

• Create opportunities for our children to become major participants in philanthropy, "paying it forward" to other children.
• Recognize exceptionally talented K-12 public school children by showcasing their art in high profile and unexpected places.
• Deliver innovative art programs and art supplies to children in severely under-resourced public schools.
• Advocate for stronger funding of public school art education.
• Inspire and enable businesses and individuals to engage in keeping a vibrant art-making program in all public schools.

Why was Fresh Artists founded?
We founded Fresh Artists as a direct result of our outrage to the severe cutbacks in arts funding in our poorest public schoolsFalcon board. As an example, art education funding has been slashed over the past 20 years in Philadelphia public schools. From 2005 through 2008, only 83 cents per child per year was allocated for art supplies. In 2009, that allocation was eliminated, necessitating art teachers to become their own, lonely advocates for resources to provide the tools and supplies they need for teaching. The situation is echoed throughout the country. ART EDUCATION IS THE FIRST THING TO BE ELIMINATED WHEN PUBLIC SCHOOL BUDGETS ARE SLASHED. The need for action is urgent!

How does Fresh Artists work?
Fresh Artists has invited the very children who are being served into the solution. If given the help, kids can be full partners in fixing this deficit in resources to their classrooms.

Fresh Artists identifies and invites children in poorly resourced public schools to donate high-resolution images of their art. Then, Fresh Artists accepts corporate and individual contributions to fund the delivery of innovative art programs and supplies for art teachers.
As a thank-you, donors receive large-scale photographic reproductions of that student art for display in their facilities, much like public radio and TV offer their donors gifts of nominal value (tote bags and umbrellas) as thank-you gifts for their financial support. It is a unique circle of giving where children's art fulfills a corporate need and raises funds for future art making. The kids are making an enormous difference through their talent, generosity and their bold civic action.

How old is Fresh Artists?
Fresh Artists is five years old. We received our 501(c)(3) status in February 2008.

What are some of your five-year metrics?

• Total number of pieces installed in corporations: 1,702
• Retail value of art supplies delivered to art teachers: More than $185,000
• Total number of pieces in the collection: 950
• Total number of children who have donated artwork: 891
• Cities/areas represented in collection:
  Philadelphia, Norristown PA, New York City, Denver CO
• Number of art teachers who have received grants: 552
• Number of places where art has been installed: Over 150

Fresh Artists says it delivers "innovative programs and art supplies" to public schools in need. We understand the art supplies part. Tell me about your "innovative programs."
It's hard to believe Fresh Artists is five 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 wonderful people. We have created our structure and operations by working with schools to build the Fresh Artists Collection of more than 950 images. We have installed 1702 large-format reproductions of children's art in more than 144 corporations and we have delivered the retail value of more than $185,000 in art supplies to schools in need. As all parts fell into place, we realized our vision was a success! Helping Fresh Artists come to life has been the best five years we could have imagined.

We have interacted with wonderful people and began to meet 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 our constituents has led us to develop innovative programs and initiatives:

Fueling Imagination and Creativity.

• Mini-Masterpieces: World-class museums (Barnes Foundation, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art) enable kids to visit, "adopt" their favorite artist and interpret a masterpiece.
• Sprout Studio: A nonprofit entrepreneurial design business where K-12 public school kids work with a real "client" and creative professionals to bring actual products and projects to life.
• Greenhouse: Our hothouse of entrepreneurial ideas, networking support and development acumen help art teachers bring much-needed resources to their classrooms. If art supplies were fish, Greenhouse teaches fishing!
• Books: Two children's storybooks, available in English and Spanish, illustrate the concept of civic engagement and philanthropy to our youngest audiences. Books are distributed free to all children.
• Clothesline Art Sales: A grass-roots art sale by children enabling them to help bring art supplies to schools in need.
• Memory Games: Suggested by a fourth grader in a Sprout Studio, Fresh Artists launched a line of intergenerational, educational family box games showcasing kids' art. The product design and development took place as a teaching experience (we raised the capital on Kickstarter as a transparent way to show kids how to bring a great idea to market). Our first customer was Anthropologie placing the games in 180 stores for the holiday season. Memory Games are now an integral part of our Sprout Studio offerings.
• Salon-on-the-Schuylkill: Annual art show powered by the Fresh Artists Business Advisory Council, raises awareness and funds at a networking party presenting the freshest new art from the collection.
• LAUNCHING SUNDAY SALONS
  This fall we will launch our Sunday Salons, special workshops where a retired master art teacher will demonstrate a favorite, successful lesson to a group of "green" art teachers (people with 3 or fewer years in an inner city school). The sessions will involve a hands-on art project, take home lesson plans and materials lists, and practical ideas for sourcing the materials. This is meant to be a personal coaching session for new teachers struggling with the challenges of inner city art classrooms, classroom management and ways to being resources to their programs. The afternoon will include coffee and refreshments with a communal supper of homemade soup, break, salad and dessert.
  
  The School District of Philadelphia will confer Act 48 Credits for these approved half-day education workshops. For a more detailed background on how and why we developed these programs and initiatives, please go to (insert link to full Founder's Essay).

Is Fresh Artists only in Philadelphia?
Our artwork is now installed in Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon and D.C. (173 pieces were installed in Safe Shores, the Children's Advocacy Center). We are selecting artwork and inviting children from outside Philadelphia to become part of our collection as a way of diversifying the collection, geographically and culturally. We now have artwork donated by kids from Philadelphia; Norristown, PA; New York City and Denver, CO. We are currently talking with people from 15 other parts of the country who seek to bring our program of empowerment
and art supplies to poor schools in their regions.

As the Collection is a highly focused "curated" collection representing a selected number of children from low-economic schools and districts, we wanted to design a way for ALL children to participate in the philanthropic process of Fresh Artists. We launched our new program, Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sales, a new grassroots initiative where any child or groups of children can make art, organize and hold an art show and donate their art to raise funds to deliver art supplies to a school in need. All funds from "Clothesline" will be used to purchase and deliver art supplies to kids in need through Fresh Artists.

How is the art in your collection chosen?
Fresh Artists is a curated collection (not juried). We choose artwork that will attract and engage businesses and corporations to make donations to help our needy public schools. We select artwork that is visually bold and vibrant, that fills its paper/canvas and can withstand "scaling up" in size. Sometimes the images are enlarged up to six by nine feet or larger.

Although we treasure every piece of art that children make, the fact is that very few pieces of artwork have enough "oomph" to scale up successfully and make a brilliant impression on a highly visible workplace or public space. Teams of three "curators" combine educational expertise, design background, marketing moxie and, let's face it … an eye for what works.
This is our "Special Sauce."

Who owns the artwork?
The child owns the artwork forever. The child and his or her parents grant a license to Fresh Artists to use digital images of the artwork to fulfill our clearly articulated, openly published philanthropic mission.

Once a piece of artwork is identified and selected by Fresh Artists, we invite the young artists and their family to sign a legal license that was created by a law firm specializing in intellectual property law. We typically approach the family through the child's art teacher. The License was designed to be easily read and understood by people with no legal background, and is written to preserve all rights of use and disposal of art for the child. The child and their legal guardians sign the license, noting how they want the child referred to (full name, partial name or anonymous), and returns it to Fresh Artists. We then co-sign the License, and return a photocopy to the child's family. After receiving permission to use the artwork, we digitally photograph or scan it at exceptionally high resolution with professional equipment and then return the original artwork to the student, typically through the art teacher.

Fresh Artists is a "virtual collection" of art. We neither hold nor own original artwork, only digital images. The original artwork may be kept by the child, sold by the child, re-licensed to others, given to Aunt Maude or thrown away. It is the child's choice. The copyright is not transferred. The child holds it forever.

Can children withdraw their artwork from the Fresh Artists collection?
Yes, we specifically designed that option for the children. Children may opt out of the original License after their 21st birthday. We will provide a form for them to sign and return to Fresh Artists via the US Post Office. Upon receipt, we will remove the image from our Collection.

Where do you find the children's artwork?
We work with teachers and children in under-resourced public schools. We visit student art shows to find promising artwork for our collection and also visit art classrooms, when invited.
If you are a teacher in a K-12 public school and feel you have artwork that suits our collection, please send us an email with a few selections of artwork at a low resolution. We welcome art teachers emailing images to us throughout the year for our consideration (low resolution, 72 dpi, at 5" x 8") at info@freshartists.org

As Fresh Artists is what we call a "lateral philanthropy" rather than a typical model of "those who have the most to give, giving to those less fortunate." We invite children from the under-resourced schools and districts to donate their artwork. This is a rather revolutionary concept of empowering poor children through their own philanthropic action, rather than always being the recipient of the largess of others more affluent or powerful. This is a core value of Fresh Artists. We are always looking for ways to see and include children's artwork from poor schools, districts and regions. We endeavor to deliver art supplies that are generated from this resource back into these same regions. It is a circle of giving that is initiated by the children and returned to other children in their own communities.

What happens to the original artwork of the children?
Once licensed to Fresh Artists, all original artwork is photographed at extremely high-resolution by a professional photographer or scanned by a fine art print company and then the original is returned to either the child's art teacher or directly to the child. The child is free to do whatever he or she wants to with the original artwork.

Can children or their teachers submit artwork for consideration?
Yes. It is best to first look carefully through our Gallery on this website to become familiar with the kind of art we accept. It is strongly branded collection. Although we believe that all children's artwork is charming and important, very few pieces are suitable for this unusual corporate-focused Collection. Contact us through our website, www.freshartists.org. We request an email with photos at 72 dpi at 4" x 5". Please do not send original artwork for our consideration.

How many children have donated artwork?
As of May 2013, 891 children have donated 950 pieces of artwork to Fresh Artists.

How do art teachers get grants from Fresh Artists?
Our grant program targets schools with the greatest need. We work with severely under-resourced public school districts and schools and invite art teachers to make a once-a-year application for support through our website, always after the first of the year when art supplies are beginning to dwindle. We have a Grants Committee that reads the applications, metrics and narratives and makes a decision based on both the engagement and need of the teacher requesting support. A retired art teacher always sits on the Grants Committee.

How do you get art supplies to art teachers?
We have developed a system of 25 Art Kits from which the Art teacher may choose. A retired art teacher, familiar with what supplies are needed developed the Kits! Grantees are notified of their awards and pick up their Art Kits at a designated site and day. We try to find art supplies vendors in places near to Grantees.

Why do you give art supplies the second half of the school year?
Fresh Artists is not intended to be the primary or sole source of art supplies for public school art teachers. Our support is intended to augment, not replace public school funding for art supplies. Our intention is to "freshen up the shelves" for the second half of the school year, when art teacher's resources are typically beginning to dwindle.

Is Fresh Artists part of any particular school district?
No. We are an independent public charitable organization, a 501(c)(3) organization. We are registered with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations (#37052), and registered on Guidestar. We currently offer our art supplies and programs to art teachers in districts and regions where artwork is being donated. Currently this is Philadelphia, Norristown, PA, New York City and Denver, CO. We are in active conversation with other schools and districts and are eager to diversify the collection to represent children from across the country.

What corporations support Fresh Artists?
Here is a partial listing of places that display our children's artwork:

• 6abc (WPVI-TV)
• The Addis Group
• Aegis Property Group
• AmeriHealth NJ
• Anapol, Schwartz
• Anthropologie
• Art Sanctuary
• Bayada Pediatric
• Benton City CAC
• Blank Rome
• Bucks Country Children & Youth
• Care Pavillion
• Caroselli, Beachler, McTiernan and Conboy
• The Cheese Trap
• Child Guidance of Southern Connecticut
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
• CHOP-Department of Adolescent Medicine
• CHOP-Human Relations Department
• CHOP-Policy Lab
• CHOP-Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness
• City of Philadelphia, Office of the Managing Director
• City of Philadelphia, Office of Arts & Culture
• CMI – Compas (four offices PA & NYC)
• Connolly & Gallagher, Wilmington DE
• Comcast Corporation
• Cosmic Café
• Covenant House
• DC Department of Children & Youth
• Delaware Valley Green Building Council
• Direct Image & Design LLC
• Drexel University, Goodwin College of Professional Studies
• Drexel University, School of Education
• Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC
• The Education Law Center
• Elevate Architects + Collaborators
• Elfant Wissahickon Realtors
• Elliott-Lewis Corporation
• Education Center for Parent Resources
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Firstrust Financial Services
• Franklin Park LLC
• Good 360, Alexandra VA & Omaha NE
• Emilio & Carole Gravagno
• Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
• Green Village Incubator
• Phoebe Haas Charitable Trust
• Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin
• Hamilton Family Foundation
• Harleysville Insurance Company
• Haworth: Philadelphia, Holland MI, Atlanta showrooms
• Health Partner
• Independence Blue Cross
• In Posse, LLC
• Institute of Family Professionals
• Jackson County CAC, Medford OR
• Keystone Shipping Company
• Kroc Center, Philadelphia
• Martin Banks
• National Children's Alliance, Washington, DC
• Neiman Group
• Network of Victim's Assistance (NOVA)
• New York Presbyterian Hospital - Children's Cottage
• Nicetown Community Development Corporation
• Nonprofit Finance Fund
• Northfields Conference Center
• PA Department of Arts & Education, Harrisburg, PA
• Pearl Pressman Liberty Communications Group
• PA Association for Justice
• The People's Emergency Center – Gloria's Place
• Philadelphia Children's Alliance
• The Philadelphia Foundation
• Philadelphia Tribune
• Philadelphia Veteran's Comfort House
• Project HOME
• Project Forward Leap
• Research for Action
• Red Cross House Family Shelter
• Saint Christopher's Foundation for Children
• Safe Shores, the DC Child Advocacy Center
• SAP Americas
• Saul Ewing LLP
• School District of Philadelphia, Office of Translation and Interpretation
• School District of Philadelphia, Parent Resource Center
• School District of Philadelphia, Education Center Café
• School District of Philadelphia, Print Shop
• School District of Philadelphia, Office of Student Records
• School District of Philadelphia, Teacher Affairs Office
• School Reform Commissioners Office
• Sentry Art Advisory Service
• Shire Pharmaceutical
• Steelcase
• Stoneleigh Foundation
• Stradley Ronon
• SunGate Kids CAC, Denver CO
• Tasty Baking Company
• Temple University, School of Education
• Terry Hess House, NC
• United Capital
• Washington Children's Foundation
• Weaver's Way Food Cooperative
• Whole Foods
• Willow Tree CAC, Green Bay WI
• World Café Live
• Yale University Children's Hospital - Child Sexual Abuse Clinic

What in-kind support does Fresh Artists receive?
Our in-kind donations of goods and services have included a website and its management, all of our art and installation photography and scanning services and printing. Our studio is furnished with donated digital printing, scanning and fabrication equipment as well as office furniture. Most of the folks working with Fresh Artists are volunteers.

Do you receive foundation support?
Yes! We are honored to receive the support of the following foundations and family trusts.
Here is a snapshot of some of the many foundations that support Fresh Artists.

• The Berwind Corporation
• Children Can Shape The Future
• The CHG Charitable Trust
• The Hamilton Family Foundation
• Mrs. Samuel M.V. Hamilton
• Health Partners Foundation
• The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
• Mr. Gerry Lenfest
• The Petermeyer Family Trust, Philadelphia Foundation
• Philadelphia Foundation
• Sakura of America
• St. Christopher's Foundation for Children
• Susquehanna Foundation

What benefit do the children receive from being part of Fresh Artists?
Fresh Artists offers the opportunity for children to learn about and practice philanthropy by "paying it forward." Fresh Artists children receive the gratification and empowerment of knowing they are philanthropists, donating the use of their images to raise funds for other children. At our annual student celebration event each spring, we honor our young artist-philanthropists with a thank-you gifts such as a t-shirt with their artwork on it, a framed certificate of "extraordinary artistic achievement," and a special "front stage pass" lanyard exclaiming "I'm Making A Difference" with their artwork on it. The children also receive a copy of our children's storybook, "Pablo, the Philly Philanthropist," which follows a youngster on his path becoming philanthropist. We also give each child two art kits containing a sketchbook and set of oil pastels … one kit is for them to keep, and the other kit to give away to another child. Demonstrable philanthropy!

Several businesses have hosted special receptions for the children, their families and teachers at their facilities, and we often make arrangements for them to visit offices to see their art installed. One young man said, when first seeing his artwork blown up in a big corporation,
"I guess I really am somebody." That says it all.

Does Fresh Artists need volunteers?
We mostly need people to introduce us to businesses and corporations so that we can present our program of corporate art. We do welcome help with our two-day annual distribution of art supplies and at our annual Sprout Fest honoring the children in June. Our new initiative, Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sales, is an entirely volunteer-based initiative. We are especially looking for retired art teachers as volunteers to coach organizations that want to hold "Clotheslines"! Email us at info@freshartists.org if you are interested in helping.

How can I get my child involved with Fresh Artists?
If your child is in a school or school district that Fresh Artists is working with, either contact your art teacher or have them get in touch with us. If the art teacher isn't interested, call us directly.

If your child is not in a school or district with which we are currently partnering, and it qualifies under our poverty guidelines (at least 55% or higher Free and Reduced Lunch), call us to discuss how we might approach the district with you as a "champion."

If your child is in a school or district that does NOT qualify under our poverty guidelines, how about having a Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sales? This is a great way your child, family, school, scout troop or faith-based organization can get involved and make a huge difference to lots of kids. It's easy and fun and can really make a difference. The "How-to" instructions are on our website or call us directly at 267-331-8614 and ask for the "Clothesline Manager." Read about how to run your own Clothesline: About Clothesline

Does Fresh Artists have temporary art exhibitions?
Not really. We print-to-order, and don't keep a big stash of these large-format beauties. Mainly because we don't have room to store them! We display small-scale editions of each year's new, fresh crop of images at our annual student celebration event, Sprout Fest. We have a few sample enlargements from our collection that we sometimes use to stage small, temporary exhibitions for development purposes. The central method of exhibition of children's artwork is by our donor/partners permanently installing the children's artwork on the walls of their facilities.

What is the long-term vision for Fresh Artists?
We have created a Print Studio and are currently developing a Print Studio Internship Program where local teens will be trained to print and fabricate the large-format, ink jet images that we give to our donors and help install them in our donor's businesses. As digital printing is the wave of the future, we will offer our Interns real-world job experience that will give them marketable skills, while deepening our commitment to building a child-centric philanthropy. The kids will receive help with their portfolios for college, and a senior show of their work. We have a expert volunteer Advisory Team of local and national experts in digital printing, photography, youth mentoring and operations in place, and we are well underway making plans for this exciting new chapter of our life. We have enlisted the leading manufacturers of large-format digital printers, laminators, precision trimming equipment and scanners to donate equipment and expertise for this workshop. We have put together a cadre of Print Studio Partners, commercial printing companies, fabricators, equipment manufacturers, who are donating consumables and equipment to stock this teaching workshop for inner city teens.

How can I make a donation to Fresh Artists?

1. Donations for artwork: Call us at (215) 920-3317 and make an appointment for us to visit your business or corporation. We will help you determine how our artwork can decorate your offices, and guide your selection from our Collection. The program of gift artwork begins at the $500 level.
2. Donations below $500: Donations of any amount are most welcome, through Pay Pal on our website, or by mailing a check made out to Fresh Artists, and mailing to Fresh Artists, P.O. Box 44, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444. No artwork is given for donations under $500, but you will receive our undying thanks, and a big hug when we meet! Tax deductions: As Fresh Artists is a 501(c)(3) organization, registered with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations, all donations to Fresh Artists are tax deductible. If thank-you artwork is received, the donor will receive a letter clearly showing the fair market value of the premium received.
3. In kind donations: We are actively seeking the donation of digital printing paper, adhesives, laminates, mounting boards of all kinds (Fomecore, Gatorfoam, Cintra, DiBond), vinyl banner material, art papers (bamboo and sugar cane, cold press, etc), window film, wallpaper material, etc. Please contact Barbara Chandler Allen at
   (215) 920-3317 to discuss Print Studio needs.

May I give art supplies or artmaking materials to Fresh Artists?
Sure! Although we are not actively soliciting donations of art supplies or materials at this time given our lack of storage, people have asked us to find teachers who could use things they would like to donate. We know of many specific needs in our schools, and can make the introductions between donor and grateful recipient! Call us and we'll figure out a good match!

SURPRISE SUPPLIES
We have some storage available to us recently and now are starting a pop-up program called "Surprise Supplies." When we get a haul of cool stuff, we put the word out on Facebook or Twitter and give art teachers 24 hours to pick up the goodies, first come, first served. Kinda crazy, but it works. Call us at (215) 920-3317 if you have some cool stuff.

At what level of donation do I receive thank-you
artwork from the children?
Thank-you gifts of artwork from the children begin at $500.

How does the re-gifting program work?
If you cannot use your thank-you artwork, we can install it in the charity or nonprofit of your choice. We can suggest hospitals, children's or adult daycare facilities, homeless shelters, public health clinics, PAL centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, or the like. The artwork is installed with an attractive Plexiglas wall label that explains our program and acknowledges the donor for their support of creative children.

We heard you give away a great deal of your artwork to needy places and organizations. What's this all about?
We are now able to almost match the amount of artwork we are placing in our donor's corporate offices with artwork we are donating ourselves, for FREE, to homeless shelters, child abuse shelters and programs that are saving children from sexual trafficking. It is a great source of pride that, with the infusion of support from the commercial printing industry (like HP, Epson, Keen Cut, Graphic Arts Supply, Alpha Imaging Supply, 3A Composite, the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association of America and many others), we are able to print, mount and install hundreds of children's large format artwork at no cost for these valiant organization doing such critical work in our sadly tainted world. Our Teen Interns are the engine to help do the work in-house - printing, fabricating, wrapping, installing, making labels, etc. They know that their donated labor means we can deliver this healing, inspirational artwork into the neediest organizations, the smallest type with no budget for artwork on the walls.

Is the thank-you artwork original art?
No. The thank-you artwork is a large-scale, digital photographic reproduction of the children's original artwork. They are high-resolution, ink jet prints, mounted on sturdy, rigid board, suitable for installation on walls. The artwork is printed with pigmented inks. Although striking, very beautiful and inspirational, these reproductions have minimal "fair market value" as there are few places that offer 40"x 60" blowups of second-grader's artwork! They are not signed, numbered, framed nor glazed.

Can you mount the artwork on different substrates?
Our standard mounting is on 3/16" black Gatorfoam. We can mount on several types of plastic, Plexiglas, aluminum, or 100% recycled half-inch "Falcon board." There are additional charges for all these different fabrication processes. If you feel your artwork must be framed, we can suggest a framer that can do this to your specifications.

What paper do you use?
We use a heavy, satin finish photo paper, but have the capability of printing on the newer, sustainable bamboo and sugar cane paper. Special papers, finishes, and mounting is possible upon consultation.

What are the sizes of gift artwork?
We nicknamed the sizes, Baby bear (30"x 40"), Mama Bear (40"x 60") and Papa Bear (about 6'x 9') because we are artists and we got tired using numbers to describe the dimensions! Besides, it's simply more fun. Also, these sizes are approximate. Each piece of art has a different aspect ratio. So you could end up with a 42"x 58" "Mama" piece, or a 35"x 35" "Baby". It's art. Not math. Each corporate donation results in the offer of a reproduction, with the size of the artwork commensurate with the size of the donation. Please call for more information and to discuss your business' decoration needs.

Can artwork be ordered in custom sizes?
Yes, certainly. The thank-you artwork will be calculated to be commensurate
with the donation amount.

Is your artwork framed and glazed?
No. Our standard fabrication artwork mounted on 3/16" black Gatorfoam, not framed, glazed, not signed, not numbered. The idea is to give our donors an attractive, useful thank-you gift with minimal fair market value in order to maximize their tax deduction. If necessary, the artwork can be framed, but we feel it is not necessary. Our installation process is unique, attractive, secure, and simple. If you want your prints framed, we can direct you to an excellent framing service, and you can pay them directly for their services.

How long will the panels last?
Where they are installed has a lot to do with how long they will last. Simply, they are commercial ink jet prints on paper, mounted on a stable, rigid substrate. According to the manufacturer, because our prints are made with non solvent-based pigmented ink (instead of dye-based ink) on high quality paper, that the prints are archival. We specify a very long-lived archival adhesive when mounting the paper prints to the Gatorfoam. But Heat, humidity, direct sunlight all affect their longevity. We do as much as we can to insure the longest possible life, but at the end of the day, they are simply ink jet prints on sturdy foam board.

That being said, we have hundreds of panels that have been up on walls for more than six years and they look terrific, with no perceptible fading. We expect they may serve well for up to 10 years in the right interior, low-light conditions, but no guarantees are made. They are simple and inexpensive to replace.

Do you offer a "green" product?
We now offer reproduction panels using either bamboo or sugar cane paper, both green. These papers are matte finish and produce a beautiful result. We can also mount these papers on a substrate called Falcon board, a 100% recycled honeycomb board, about a half-inch thick. The look is more informal than the standard black-core Gatorfoam but very attractive.

Can the panels be laminated to protect them?
You bet! We offer a satin ("luster") clear lamination on all sizes. This lamination has a long life (the manufacturer guarantees it for 50 years) and protects against UV damage and liquid splashes and sprays. There is a small charge for this process.

How do you install the artwork?
We offer complete professional installation services for an additional fee of $75 for small (Baby) and medium (Mama) size artwork and $150 for a large (Papa) size piece. There is an additional charge for masonry walls or unusual installations. We float the artwork about one and a half inches away from the wall, securing it with stand-offs and screws with finishing washers.
It is a simple, secure and elegant installation.

Can we ship the artwork?
Sure. It can be shipped either on its panels or rolled, before it is mounted to the Gatorfoam. Packing and shipping charges are extra, and a quote is available upon request.

Can the young artist-philanthropist be invited to see his/her artwork installed in the donor's business?
Yes, under certain circumstances. As you might expect, we don't give any child's personal contact information to anyone. Several corporations have hosted receptions for their young artist-philanthropists, their families and art teachers. This is always done through the children's art teachers, who secure the appropriate permissions and sometimes help facilitate the children's travel arrangements. It is complicated, but extremely delightful for both the kids and the corporate partners.

Can a donor use images of the children's gifted artwork in any way?
Not without specific written permission from Fresh Artists. Images can be used with written permission from Fresh Artists for annual reports or PR, but both the artist-philanthropist and Fresh Artists must always be credited. The artwork panel is the donor's to keep but no license to use that image is transferred with the gift of the panel.

Is the entire image collection on your website?
No. We have a selection of images on our gallery pages, and frequently change the images. Please call for an appointment to see the entire collection. We can prepare a special place on our website for viewing the larger collection. (215) 920-3317

How do I obtain a copy of Pablo, the Philly Philanthropist?
Write to us at Fresh Artists, P.O. Box 44, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444 and send a check for $20 plus $5 shipping and handling. We will send it to you! Soon you will be able to purchase it on our website, but you know how things are when you are a small nonprofit with big ideas! The website usually lags behind the vision!

Download the FAQ Document. [PDF - 318 kb]