Organization: ArtCorps

All Photos ArtCorps is a dynamic social enterprise using the arts to advance social change in Central America. ArtCorps trains organizations to use arts and culture as powerful tools for sustainable development. Through community arts projects, volunteer artists educate and inspire people to participate in improving the environmental, health and social conditions in their communities.

Focus Areas:	Arts, Children, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Health, Human Rights, Gender & Equality
Countries Served:	Guatemala Honduras El Salvador

Description of Services:
Each year, ArtCorps sends volunteer professional artists to support the environmental, public health and human rights initiatives of Central American organizations. During their one- to two- year placements, the artists use murals, theater, stories, puppetry and other creative facilitation techniques to educate and inspire people to participate actively in improving their communities. ArtCorps artists train both community members and organization staff in our field-tested Art for Social Action methodology. Since 2000, ArtCorps has sent 49 international artists to train more than 20 different organizations in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to incorporate art and culture as a tool for engagement and empowerment.
History:
After 20 years as a grantmaker, ArtCorps Founder Martine Kellet saw that art had the power to transcend communication barriers and inspire local communities to be active agents of change. ArtCorps was founded on the premise that many organizations, despite well-designed programs and adequate financing, struggle to create the kind of strong local partnerships within communities that are necessary to build sustainable programs. ArtCorps provides the vital link that connects organizations to the communities they serve by introducing the arts as an innovative education, engagement and empowerment methodology. The arts have the power to establish trust, build confidence and develop initiative.
Accomplishments & Progress:
Through the creative and participatory process of art: -Over 100 communities have become actively engaged in environmental conservation -Children have understood and exercised their rights in over 30 communities -Indigenous groups have become civically engaged in over 25 communities -Poor rural communities have embraced public health issues in more than 35 communities -Youth have found their voice and become leaders in 70 communities -Access to girls education has increased in 15 rural indigenous communities -Indigenous women have organized and tapped into their potential as leaders in more than 160 communities -Indigenous women and youth have established creative economic opportunities in 10 communities