“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

Philanthropic Ventures Foundation is helping children to remain artists for as long as possible with its Arts Resource Grant Program. The purpose of this program is to help teachers inspire their students by enhancing their classrooms and after-school arts programs, which have suffered in the past due to state budget cuts.

The Arts Resource Grant Program seeks to boost arts education in music, theater, visual arts, and dance. Teachers can use the funds to pay for art supplies, visiting artists, instruments, costumes, stipends for after-school arts teaching, props, and professional development.

Arts education is important for our students because it allows them to express themselves creatively as well as eliminate any cultural or linguistic barriers. Here’s what past recipients have to say about how their students have benefitted from PVF’s program:

“The scrapbook project helps my students practice sentence structure, grammar, and articulation of their thoughts. These are the skills children need to learn in order to meet their Language Arts standards as well as give them a way to artistically express themselves within our rather rigid framework for a public school.”– Lilia Zepeda, Adelante Spanish Immersion School, Redwood City, CA

“With our current state education cuts, we are struggling to ensure our students don’t miss out on different types of learning, like field trips. Watching live theater can be transformational for young children as they can begin to imagine themselves in another world.”– Margarita Orrego, Castro Elementary School, Mountain View, CA

“Art lessons have been essential in bringing together our ethnically diverse school community and stimulating our children’s interest in art.”– Sue Kavanagh, Farallone View Elementary School, Montara, CA

“Visual art provides a way for one to express oneself. The arts offer common ground for all children. A grant from your foundation provides an equitable learning experience for every child in our school.”– Shelley Jones of Fiesta Gardens International School, San Mateo, CA

“We used the grant funding to bring in a musical director to support our musical production of Aladín/Aladdin… Aladín was the fifth production of its kind at Adelante, however, it was a first for Adelante in two respects – it was the first year that Adelante undertook the production of a bilingual show and the first year Adelante undertook a full musical.”– Rita Melton, Adelante Spanish Immersion School, Redwood City, CA