During one of our art workshops, a young boy sat quietly at his table. He was holding his paintbrush and had even dipped it in paint, but he just did not know where to start. He had grown accustomed to someone telling him the next steps: how to solve an Algebraic equation, how to memorize the 11 languages spoken in South Africa, how to diagram a sentence. Anja, our volunteer art teacher, went to his side, took up her own brush, assured him there were no rules, and boldly swiped up on her paper, leaving a free-flowing arc of paint. He immediately smiled and jumped right in, re-dipping his brush and heading off in his unique direction: not following her way but finding his own.

Another child in a different class said, “Art makes me feel calm and free and comfortable in my space.” Those are the words of a child who had never taken an art class before we came along. Prior to that, she worried that school demanded only memorization, rules, dates, formulae. Art class, though, changed everything - not just for her, but for Universal Promise, too. How? After seeing the transformations in confidence and joy, we chose to incorporate art into each school with which we partner. Children discover hidden talents. Teachers see students in different lights, and the educators themselves get to step away from their desks and find more creative ways to link their curricula to their students.

We have found that art is meditation, healing, thinking, and being, all on an individual’s terms. That sounds good to us!