Fresh Artists and Behr Paint Company Collaborate to Expand Fresh Artists’ Free Chip Art Kit Program for Underserved Schools Nationwide!

In Celebration of Behr Paint’s 75th Anniversary, Behr employees will assemble 1,000 Earth-Friendly Paper Mosaic Art Kits at a Chip-O-Rama event on October 27th in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  

A common challenge paint companies face is how to keep obsolete paint chip samples out of landfills. Behr Paint Company and Fresh Artists have partnered for a solution that goes well beyond recycling, while giving students across the country access to much-needed art materials. Together, Behr Paint Company and Fresh Artists provide the opportunity to help fill the critical need for art education in public schools with zero funding, so all children receive the art education they deserve.  

On the morning of Thursday, October 27th, local Behr Paint employees from Allentown and leadership from Southern California will gather for a marathon session to assemble 1,000 Chip Kits. This effort will enable Fresh Artists to expand the program to an additional 150,000 low-income children nationwide. The Delta Marriott in Allentown, a supporter of the community for three decades, will host the Chip-O-Rama.

“Eleven years ago, Fresh Artists contacted our manufacturing facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania with this brilliant idea,” said Adam Aquino, Manufacturing Manager at Behr Paint Company and Fresh Artists Board Member. “Through the donation of millions of discontinued paint chips, Fresh Artists has been able to create paper mosaic classroom art kits for more than 800 underfunded schools and more than 400 mini-kits directly into students’ homes during Covid. We’re proud to partner with Fresh Artists to deliver art materials to underfunded schools and continue to support the importance of art education in schools across the country, which is why this collaboration has become a key element of our 75th Anniversary celebration this year.”

Dubbed “Chip Art” and distributed to art teachers upon request, the Fresh Artists’ Chip Art Kits includes a lesson plan and colorful classroom poster showing examples of Chip Art and enough paint chip samples for at least 150 students to make mosaic art. Since then, Fresh Artists has raised enough money to deliver more than 800 classroom kits free of charge, impacting an estimated 120,000 children.

Earlier in the year, Behr employees throughout the country created their own Chip Art mosaics as part of a commemorative 75th anniversary “quilt” banner, currently on display in Behr’s corporate office in Santa Ana, California. 

“We’re delighted that Behr is celebrating its 75th milestone year with us,” said Barbara Chandler Allen, Founder of Fresh Artists. “Collaborating with them over the past 11 years has had an exponential impact on our ability to reach underserved children through art.”

Any full-time Art Teacher who teaches in a K-12 public school where 70% or more of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch can apply to reserve a kit.

To apply for a reserved kit, visit freshartists.org/chipkit