Our Mission and VISION
P.S. ARTS is dedicated to advancing equity and opportunity for children and youth by providing arts education in systemically under-resourced public schools and communities.
The P.S. in P.S. ARTS stands for public schools. P.S. ARTS was founded in 1991 out of the Crossroads Community Foundation by Dr. Paul Cummins with seed funding from musician and philanthropist, Herb Alpert. They recognized that a steady decline in funding since the late 1970s had produced massive resource inequities in California public schools, and arts programs were virtually nonexistent in the schools serving the highest numbers of youth affected by poverty and systemic racism.
At P.S. ARTS, our vision is that every child in America has access to high-quality arts education.
P.S. ARTS values COMMUNITY, serving as a public school partner and ally. We value the role of EQUITY in advancing social justice, and deliver programs that are responsive to the diverse histories, strengths, challenges, and needs of the youth and communities we serve. We value the role of ARTISTIC EXPRESSION and INNOVATION in children’s wellbeing and success in school, work, and life. Finally, we value EXCELLENCE, which we define by our ability to operate and deliver programs that reflect our core values.
You can support our mission by clicking here. Be sure to check out our Double the Donation search engine to see if your employer matches donations!
Our Model
Our programs follow a model where student success is viewed as the product of excellence in designing curriculum and delivering instruction, fostering a healthy and productive learning environment, and engaging student’s support community.
Student Learning
P.S. ARTS programs foster development of knowledge, skills, and social-emotional assets linked to wellbeing and success in school, work and life.
Engaged Community
P.S. ARTS programs provide opportunities for family and community engagement in children’s education and lives.
Understanding that justice is a moving target, P.S. ARTS developed our program model and curriculum framework to adapt and evolve over time in response to the communities we serve, the time we are in, and current research on the role arts education has in children’s healthy development, learning, and wellbeing.
Our Programs
P.S. ARTS provides weekly arts education classes to students in our partner schools during the regular school day for the entire school year.
P.S. ARTS’ Inside Out Community Arts program, an award-winning after-school theater program, supports at-risk youth in building self-esteem, conflict resolution, and socialization skills.
P.S. ARTS aims to provide arts experiences for the entire family. Our free, intergenerational, community events reach nearly 10,000 students and families throughout the year.
P.S. ARTS Teaching Artists receive a minimum of 20 hours of professional development per year. P.S. ARTS also offers Arts Integration Coaching to classroom teachers.
Honors & Awards
Inside Out Community Arts’ National Award
We host fundraising events throughout the year, offering the LA community the opportunity to celebrate & support our nationally acclaimed programs.
Your tax deductible donations will help P.S. ARTS provide yearlong arts education to the 25,000 students we serve each week.
With step-by-step instructions from a Teaching Artist & easy to find materials, you can create anywhere with P.S. ARTS To Go! projects, inspired by notable artists & artworks.
