OUR STORY
While our founder was serving as the Founding Director of Operations for Greenwood Leadership Academy (GLA) Oklahoma’s first partnership school founded by the Met Cares Foundation, she was able to experience firsthand the erosion of art opportunities provided to students in our public school system. This inspired her to provide as many art opportunities for GLA students as possible, such as annually signing students up to attend Hope for the Holidays. For some GLA students, attending Hope for the Holidays, was their first time attending a show at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.
This inspired our founder to launch the inaugural A.R.T. (Ambition Reveals Truth) Benefit Concert in January 2019. This event closed the night raising the critical funds to gift the Tulsa Girls Art School with art supplies to sustain them for a year of regular programming, and summer assistance. All ticket revenue will always be donated to students to start or further advance their art education.
The initiative is positioned to annually fundraise for art programs located in the Tulsa Metroplex with a focus on providing more art opportunities for black and brown students. As of 2015, only 26.2% of African-American students had access to art classes (Metla, 2015). Statistically, lower-income and minority students are most likely to lose their art programs.
After assessing the need and success of the inaugural benefit concert, Art 4orms Foundation was born.
Art 4orms Foundation exist to build and sustain generational access to art education for public school students. Art 4orms will utilize art education to expand career pathways and dismantle historical disadvantages placed on communities of color.
Art 4orms Foundation is Oklahoma's first Arts & Wellness nonprofit.