Free Arts NWEmpowering Youth in Portland since 2009

Empowering Youth in Portland since 2009

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Our Mission

Free Arts NW provides arts experiences that empower underserved youth to find their creativity, passion, and voice. Through arts education, collaborative projects, and ongoing mentorship, Free Arts NW cultivates individual artistic exploration while strengthening youth participants’ connections to their community.

Our Core Principals

As facilitators of artistic exploration and expression, Free Arts NW highly values four principles that motivate and shape our process.

Belonging

The sense of belonging and group acceptance empowers youth – through a nurturing and safe environment – to face challenges, to seek and receive support, and to build self-esteem.

Interdependence

Participation in community arts projects provides lessons in interdependence. All of the participants rely on one another and will join together for the accomplishments of the group.

Accomplishment

Goals are highly individual and may vary from learning how to operate a complicated camera, to finishing a drawing, to working through fears and self-doubt to try something new.

Generosity

We frequently ask youth to give away the art they have invested their creative efforts in. Through these sacrifices, youth learn how to give freely without expecting anything in return.

Our Calendar

Keep up to date on all our events and important dates on our calendar and Events feed.

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