Celebrate Our Founder’s Bday With Us

I hope you will come support drawchange on June 14, 7:30PM. All you have to do is have dinner and drinks at California Pizza Kitchen in Atlantic Station and 20% of the proceeds will go towards our programs! Nevermind the fact that it's our founder's birthday! We are very grateful that CPK has given us this amazing opportunity! Anytime of day that you dine at this location and mention drawchange with this flyer in hand, we'll get credit for! But of course I'd love you there for my birthday festivities later that evening. See you there! If you can't make it but would still like to support, please visit this page.

Guest contributor, Audrey Noelani Vavia shares what it's been like to volunteer for drawchange: In 2011, I happened across a volunteer opportunity for drawchange, a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the education of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children by bringing art into their daily lives. Immediately, I was hooked. Fresh out of CAL and eager to put my skills to work for this organization, I initiated a small research project on the therapeutic effects of art for underprivileged children: Art: A Child’s Movement Toward Peace. While working on the project, I learned about how art is used as a healing agent, a means of psychological support that can help address many anxiety-provoking issues in young children—for instance, adoption or displacement and a sudden immersion into a foreign culture. Art—especially in a communal setting—does provide children with the expressive outlet they need to overcome past traumatic experiences and find internal peace; but more importantly, when artwork is allowed to persist, the creative endeavors of one group of children may go on to inspire creativity in others and so on and so forth, effectively producing an entire generation of little peace-makers. If only children were encouraged to further develop their artistic ingenuity to inspire peace movements as adults! Continuing with my volunteer efforts, I was given the honor of writing descriptive captions for two fundraising calendars, The Forgotten Angels and My Life in Drawings, and have gone on to manage data for the Costa Rican Child Sponsorship Program. Currently, I volunteer my time as the monthly newsletter editor. From a digital standpoint, it has been a pretty creative, extremely thought-provoking experience that will remain with me for many years to come.

We are so excited about our new office space at the Goat Farm Arts Center in Atlanta! After quite a while of packing and unpacking art supplies and sorting through them, I'm happy to say that I'm feeling organized! The new space is cozy yet full of natural light that streams in from a 14 foot window. Our space has 20 foot ceilings that over look greenery with an awesome view of the cargo train that comes through about once a day. In our new space we also have an arts education classroom already equipped with all the furnishings to bring children in for our workshops. How exciting! I'm really looking forward to being surrounded by the creative energy that is inevitable in this complex. There is nothing better to engage those creative muscles like being surrounded by other creatives. The atmosphere at "The Farm" certainly helps. We're surrounded by tons of character with the building structures themselves and of course you can't forget the resident pets; turkeys, guinea hens, goats, pigs, etc! Come on by soon for a visit! The Goat Farm is located at 1200 Foster Street, Atlanta, GA 303016. It's definitely worth the trip!
 

Two art disciplines seamlessly combine to create a beautiful dance of form, line, movement and color!

Are you ready for the trip of a lifetime? ______ Do you want to touch lives while experiencing a beautiful new culture? ______ Do you want your next vacation to carry some meaning? ______ Are you ready to give back in a big way? ______ If you answered yes to one or more of the above, consider joining us on our Costa Rica Art Beyond Borders trip this year. We will be going July 9-17. Trip fees include includes accommodations, airfare, most meals, ground transportation, fun day, tips, and taxes ($100 discount for repeat team members) *airfare is from Atlanta, GA Airport [media url="http://youtu.be/H8q0X9dmF-U" width="400" height="300"] Fee is only $1400.00. Compare this price to other service trips and you'll be amazed! Easy fundraising opportunities are available. * You do not need to be an artist to apply :) Email trips@drawchange.org for more info or visit this link for more!

I thought this video was definitely worth sharing. It shares with us the emotions art is able to bring out of us and the beauty portrayed as a result of letting those emotions flow. It is our pleasure to help children express their emotions through art. Art heals on so many levels! Enjoy:

Our founder and CEO, Jennie Lobato was featured in BURNAWAY, an online arts magazine focused on spreading Atlanta's awesome art scene to everyone. Click here to read the amazing article!

Our sponsorship project with Fatima School in Costa Rica has enabled us to start purchasing whiteboards for the entire school. We are three classrooms down and have five more to go! Thank you all so much to everyone who has contributed to the success of this project! The boards not only serve as a representation of a 'new beginning' but the children can now actually see what their teacher is writing on the board! From  “The Impact of Color on Learning” by Kathie Engelbrecht:

Color’s demonstrated effectiveness on improving student’s attention span as well as both student and teacher’s sense of time, is a further reason as to how color can increase the productivity in a classroom. The mental stimulation passively received by the color in a room, helps the student and teacher stay focused on the task at hand. This idea is further supported by Harry Wohlfarth’s 1983 study of four elementary schools that notes that schools that received improved lighting and color showed the largest improvements in academic performance and IQ scores.

[caption id="attachment_1066" align="alignnone" width="540"] Teaching is now streamlined for Ms. Deyanira.[/caption] And from "The Power of Aesthetics to Improve Student Learning":

Pupils with plenty of daylight in the class room learn up to 21 percent more than pupils with less daylight.

(The new white boards are attracting very much needed light into the classroom) Thank you again. With your help we are not only transforming the lives of these children by giving them a proper education, but we are changing an entire community and doing SO much to break their cycle of poverty.* Cheers, Jennie * To learn more about our sponsorship project and how you can sponsor a child today, please visit this link.