Gifts from individuals, couples, corporations and foundations have long supported our proven and successful work with children and teens.
The overarching goal of the Young Artist Programs is to kindle, nurture and celebrate the creative ability of San Antonio children by educating them in the visual arts. Through developing the creativity of our city’s young people, the Young Artist Programs empower them to learn and grow in creative directions and to acquire skills that will benefit them their entire lives.
Our Young Artist Programs consist of five key components:
Saturday Morning Discovery. This popular program takes place every Saturday morning during the school year, and has been FREE to children and families for all of its 40+-year-long history. Nearly 1000 children and teens each year (totalling more than 25,000 during the program’s history) work with artist-teachers to learn about ceramics, silk screening, stained glass, weaving, painting and drawing, origami, pinhole photography, and more. Many times, this is their first (and perhaps only) exposure to the visual arts, and many go on to study art or make it their career.
The Mobile Arts Program. We “mobilize” teachers to take art education into area schools (grades K-8), shelters, community centers, libraries, and other sites which serve children and families — and donations allow us to send teachers to places where there would otherwise be NO art experiences available.
Tuition-based classes. Classes for children and teens are offered in the Fall and Spring terms. and during Summer Art Camp. They present a very wide variety of art education for children, typically drawing from science and the humanities. The more than 1200 children served are taught by about 50 experienced, effective teaching artists.
Scholarships. Donations to the Young Artist Programs provide financial support to give artistically talented, low-income young people access to specialized arts instruction offered at Summer Art Camp each year. Typically, the YAP Scholarship Program provides funds for 150 talented, deserving children and teens, between the ages of 5 and 18, that enable them to attend classes and develop their skills.
Services for Teens. Our Teen Intensive Studio program — which the teens themselves named “Bee Nation” — is an opportunity for talented, invited teens to receive focused, professional experience in painting and drawing, as well as exhibiting, their work. This program has been highly successful, and has literally changed lives for some of the invited students.
To learn how you can help grow YAP — overall, or in support of a particular aspect of our work, please contact Ed Conroy at 210.224.1848 ext.304.
