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“I believe that many of you understand that the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. That we cannot be fully evolved human beings until we care about human rights and basic dignity. That all of our survival is tied to the survival of everyone. That our visions of technology and design and entertainment and creativity have to be married with visions of humanity, compassion and justice. And more than anything, for those of you who share that, I've simply come to tell you to keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.”
-Bryan Stevenson
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Access to quality education is a human right. Creating and consuming meaningful art brings dignity. And survival is not enough! It is our duty to empower our scholars and their families to not merely survive, but to thrive in community as image-bearers of God. For those of you who have supported us with your money, time, connections, and words of encouragement this year, we want to say thank you. We are humbled and strengthened by your support. As we enter into the new year, let’s take a look at what we achieved in 2018:
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The youth scholar-artists of Freedom Arts have proven themselves to be creative, fearless, community-minded, and incredibly intelligent. Most of them have been with us since we started in 2012, and our teaching artists and tutors continue to be both amazed and challenged by their growth. We’ve performed in the museums and the streets, planted gardens and built furniture, raised our grades and addressed issues in our community. Here is their 2018 report card:
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Our team continues to be leaders in creating access to quality arts education, relevant arts based learning, and nurturing art therapy all over the region to students of all ages and backgrounds, which also creates jobs for working artists and educators. We have seen significant growth and development in our services and partnerships over the years, and we have no plans to stop! In 2016, we worked with 3,253 students, and then 3,625 students in 2017. Here’s what we did in 2018:
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For those of you who share these beliefs about education, the arts, and community, and have answered the call to make it all accessible and inclusive, we say not only thank you, but congratulations! Your investment of your time, talents, and treasures has helped inspire thousands of young people across St. Louis to realize and utilize their God-given talents and worth this year. You have played a crucial role in empowering young people to become the highly creative, literate, passionate, independent thinkers they are capable of becoming. Now let’s increase this impact in 2019. Whether you partner with us directly or are doing justice and creating equity with other groups or individuals, we want to encourage you to carry on and keep learning how to do it better.
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This work takes all of us. The harvest is indeed plentiful, so we need plenty of workers! Please forward this report to anyone who truly cares about education, the arts, mentoring, and making all of that accessible on a quality level for our youth. Please join us in this mission as an investor if you have not. And stay tuned for what’s next for Freedom Arts in 2019. It’s going to be another beautiful year of even greater risks and overdue rewards.
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“We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the pressing urgencies of the great cause of freedom. God give us leaders. A time like this demands great leaders. Leaders whom the fog of life cannot chill, men whom the lust of office cannot buy. Leaders who have honor, leaders who will not lie. Leaders who will stand before a pagan god and damn his treacherous flattery.” -MLK
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