About Art in Action
Our Mission
Empower students through arts education.
Our Vision
Every child has equal access to quality and meaningful arts education that helps prepare them for future success.
Art in Action provides art curriculum, materials, and training that empowers students to develop:
✔️ Creativity
✔️ Critical thinking
✔️ Self-expression
✔️ Resilience
Through hands-on learning students expand their knowledge in:
✔️ Art + art techniques
✔️ Cultural understanding
✔️ Core subject topics
so every student has the skills they need to succeed academically and beyond.
Today we reach 80,000 students in 623 schools and afterschool programs in 32 states. 50% of those we serve are Title I schools in low-income communities.
Our History & Founder
Art in Action Founder Judy Sleeth was dismayed to find that her child’s Kindergarten class did not have an art program, so she started writing and teaching her own art lessons to the class. In 1982, she founded Art in Action as a response to a lack of art lessons taught in classrooms and the decimation of arts education programs in California schools through Proposition 13. The program grew to area schools through word of mouth as the need for art programs like this continued to grow.
In 1999, Art in Action became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization and has become an invaluable resource
for school communities across the country.
