Vision

In partnership with ARTreach, it is our vision to empower children (and adults) to attain personal growth and visionary thinking through creative self-expression and provide environmental awareness through the arts.

Mission Statement

It is the mission of Eco-Arts International to provide an environment and resources needed to bring Green-based, art-related programs and services to underprivileged and the underserved, including children at-risk, troubled youth, children (and adults) with special needs, and victims of crime, and to seek and implement non-traditional, alternative intervention strategies that can be used as a vehicle for self-expression, self-confidence, and hope for the future.

About Eco-Arts International

The Eco-Arts International (EAI) operates under the umbrella of ArtREACH, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization with a mission to serve the underprivileged. The EAI operates a retail Re-Use Center that is the foundation for an environmental arts program devoted using landfill-diverted materials to create constructive activities to children at risk for drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, truancy or delinquency. This Green-based program teaches creative self-expression through the arts while educating our youth about the importance of environmental awareness.

Core Beliefs

• Ecological responsibility should be shared by everyone on the planet.
• Everyone has the potential and should have the opportunity to be creative.
• Collaborative arts promote a sense of community, important with at-risk youth.
• Creative self-expression is the foundation of self-esteem.
• A strong sense of creativity is an essential life skill that promotes visionary thinking.
• Every child has creative abilities, which require structured, healthy outlets to express.
• Offering affordable resources for teachers will promote and sustain art in the classrooms.
• Creativity can be nurturing and healing.
• Gathering with friends and peers to create is motivating and inspiring.
• The youth of today will be the ones to re-create the world of tomorrow by innovating a way to rethink and repurpose useable and sustainable products from things that came before.

Creative Re-Use

Creative re-use is as much arts related as it is environmental. It demonstrates that artistic creativity and learning can take place anywhere and with all manner of materials. "Junk" has value for those who can see meaning beyond the discarding of old things. Recycled materials can be a viable source for art supplies.

"There is something beautiful, almost magical, about taking old, broken materials and using your own hands to create something completely new out of that pile of ‘junk’. What we often see is a sort of metamorphosis taking place. As the ‘junk’ begins to be transformed…so does the child doing the creating. Both the project and the child grow…together…into something more beautiful than before. It’s an incredible process to watch."-Danita Raulerson, co-founder

Expressive art forms like dance, drama, writing, music, and painting encourage children to channel emotions, release anger, model positive methods of communication, and develop renewed trust in adults. Studies have shown that children involved in the arts are more likely to become active in student government and civic leadership. At-risk children exposed to the arts tend to do better in school, look for more positive role models and make better life choices. Children exposed to environmental issues and causes, tend to become advocates later in life.

Art curriculum will be created to combine environmental & cultural awareness, using recycled materials, and will be available to all youth within the local community, especially to underprivileged and the underserved. With the drastic budget cuts in the education system, low cost art supplies that include a math and science component are needed more than ever, and will be made available to all teachers through the reuse center.

Eco-Arts operates a year-round youth employment program, giving at-risk teens jobs, real world skills, self respect, and multiple opportunities to Re-connect with their community, even setting aside a portion of their wages for restitution payments for those that need it. Eco-Arts hires high needs 14-21 year olds to make public works of art using recycled materials, which gives kids accustomed to failure an opportunity to succeed and to directly impact their local environment.

Eco-Arts provides opportunities for youth to discover, or Re-discover the value in themselves, through work, creativity, positive reinforcement, and opportunities to be an appreciated member of their community.

Re-Connecting Communities

The Re-use center will provide jobs and soft skills training for at-risk youth, with restorative justice benefits for juvenile offenders in the community. A collaboration with the Child Services organizations including The Juvenile Probation Department will be an innovative, groundbreaking model, leading the nation in demonstrating how dynamic civic leadership in the formation of public/private partnerships can serve as a catalyst for important social change, helping communities Re-connect and Re-unite.

Creating a family friendly environment where communities can learn side by side the impact we all have on the environment is critical to the sustainability of our planet.

Teachers

Teachers in Florida often spend hundreds of dollars each year to supplement their classrooms with needed creative and interactive materials for their students. We will help educators by providing an inexpensive source of materials in addition to workshops to learn how to maximize the creative and educational potential of these diverse materials.

Businesses

We will help businesses identify materials destined for the trash that can be creatively RE-USED instead. Businesses will be offered a way to support the community with a creative and pro-environmental alternative to "dumping". Local companies will benefit from the opportunity to donate usable goods in exchange for tax benefits and reduced garbage fees. This Center will be the first of its kind in Polk County, and will provide "Green Collar Jobs" for youth in the community

Artists

Artists, both professional and "crafty," are often on the lookout for interesting materials with which to work. We offer a variety of unusual materials for common purposes, and common materials for unique creations.

Future Programs

Some of the programs in the planning stages are: Community mural and decorative painting projects, lead by airbrush artist mentor for graffiti offenders, mosaic garden sculptures created by vandalism offenders, and an organic vegetable and chicken farming program with the items grown being sold at local farmer’s markets. A composting program will be instituted in collaboration with local school districts. All compost will be sold as special organic compost to local nurseries, and for use in public areas within the community. The culinary program, teaching youth the benefits of a healthy life will include an organic restaurant staffed by youth. Our E-commerce website will be operated through the reuse center and be managed by the youth in the program.