Art Buddies

Help Art Buddies bring more free, creative mentorship to students in under-resourced schools. We believe that everyone is creative, and that creativity is essential to thriving communities.

Art Buddies serves students at schools with high rates of poverty, in communities that have been systematically underserved and historically underrepresented in the arts. In our thirty-plus years, we have served thousands of students at over a dozen Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools, and are committed to expanding our reach in the coming years. 

Our mission is to bring free, joyful, and meaningful one-to-one creative mentorship programming to connect, encourage, inspire, and create with underserved students in the Twin Cities. Our FREE 10-week Character Creation program pairs kind, creative adults with students 8-11 years old to create a one of a kind superhero character and costume that embodies their strengths, interests, and care for their community. Over the course of the program, Buddies work together to articulate their values, design a unique character, and create a costume from a robust array of fabric, cardboard, duct tape, hot glue, googly eyes, do-dads and more. During each session, students are encouraged to take the lead on their work, help make announcements to the class, and share their experiences and progress with their peers. The program concludes with a celebratory costume parade through their school, classroom presentations, and a professional photoshoot. 

Throughout the program, we consistently see the cultivation of trusting relationships, the development of planning and problem solving skills, a deepened sense of community, and the blossoming of creative confidence. 

Learn more about Art Buddies and how to support us longterm at artbuddies.org