ARTreach was established in 2003 to bring the arts to the underprivileged, with a leaning towards programs serving abused and abandoned children in residential treatment, children at risk in the school district, and neglected elderly citizens in public care nursing homes. The table below shows the progression in size of our budget, as the size and scope of our organization has grown:

Operating Year

We currently have a full time volunteer/part time paid Executive Director and administrative assistant. ARTreach contract professional service providers and qualified teaching artists to support specific programs. ARTreach has ten executive board members, numerous local community advisors and 22 active agency advisors. Brief biographies of board members and advisors are available.

A key to our success has been establishing active partnerships with our social service organizations, juvenile probation departments and independent school districts and collaborating with art partners to serve. We also secure local financial support.  Our board is guided by a growing list of agency and campus advisors that inform our board of needs that specially-designed art programs could support. Our budgets are established based on this input. We are building relationships within the agency and school district administrations (directors, superintendents, principals, teachers, social workers) and together identify key liaisons that will help support our ARTreach directors and teaching artists in the delivery and evaluation of the programs which we provide.

Agency and Campus Partnerships

The following is a list of current ARTreach partner Agencies and Campuses: Katy Christian Ministries (Crisis Center, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault Center), DePelchin Children’s Center, Fort Bend Probation Department, Harris County Youth Correctional Facilities, Making it Better, City Wide Club,  Houston Holocaust Museum, Palmer Drug Abuse Program, Systems of Hope (Children’s Protective Services), Child Advocates of Fort Bend, Child Advocates of Harris County, Adolescents in Recovery (AIR), Pregnancy Help Center of Katy, Katy Independent School District (ISD), Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Houston ISD, Fort Bend ISD. Resources link to Save the Children, Washington, Children at Risk in Houston.

Agency and Campus Advisor Roles

ARTreach designs and delivers the programs that benefit children and adults in all categories represented by our agency and campus partners.   Agency and campus advisors feed into the development of new programs and identify the children, adults, or the classroom populations that will benefit from ARTreach programs and services.

Annual Advisors Meeting

Every year in January, ARTreach hosts a community forum that invites agency and campus advisors to meet with the staff and Board of Directors. This is a round table discussion aimed at identifying needs within the community. Attendees from the school district and local social service agencies express  a range of concerns related to children at risk, gang related activity, school drop out rates, drugs and crime, student apathy, domestic violence, sexual assault, teen pregnancy, young parenting issues, negative influences, the neglected emotional well being of the elderly, educational issues associated with mentally retarded adults, special needs, bullying, suicide, cracks in the educational or foster care system, latch key kids, summer program needs, continuing education, and equal access issues.

This meeting is the motivating influence that directs the focus of ARTreach board of directors and staff. Our organization’s response is to come up with ways the community can build awareness, intervene, or support prevention, and to develop creative art-related programs incorporating mentors and positive role models that fit into an overall solution framework.

Art Partnerships

ARTreach sources professional visual and performing artists from the following resources: Young Audiences of Houston, the Houston Symphony, Houston Theater District, the Houston Grand Opera, Katy Performing Arts Society, URGEWORKS Studios, Texas Commission on the Arts Artists Roster, and numerous local art and dance studios. Our ART Partnerships include a list of local and independent artists who donate time and studio teaching hours.

Volunteer Involvement

The ARTreach organization relies on community volunteers for support and special project assistance. ARTreach has an active volunteer network and partners with service organizations including Child Advocates, Fort Bend Partnerships for Youth, Crossroads Partnerships for Youth, National Charity League and PTAs, to provide interactive and engaging opportunities for registered mentors and volunteers. Many ARTreach volunteers are child advocates working to increase social awareness for abused and neglected children, and are strong advocates for the arts-in-education.

Community Venue Partnerships

Facilities and businesses donate space for off-site workshops, special projects, community events, student exhibitions, and other activities. Examples include La Centerra at Cinco Ranch (a town center shopping center), Houston Community College, the Holocaust Museum Houston, Katy ISD, and other local businesses. Corporate offices were donated this year to ARTreach by the Houston-based corporation, Extreme Technologies, Inc. This donation supports our operations and was made to help our organization bridge and extend much needed services from Katy to the Greater Houston area.

Church and Missions Partnerships

ARTreach is partnering with local churches to support volunteer involvement  in outreach programs. Our current church partners include Crosspoint Community Church, David Stockwell Evangelists, The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch and the Living Word Lutheran Church (Katy); Copperfield Baptist Church, and the CRM Fellowship in Houston’s Third Ward (Houston); and Woodsedge Church (Woodlands).