Artists for Humanity

Artists for Humanity (AFH) is a Boston based nonprofit organization that supports young emerging artists. Artists For Humanity's mission is to bridge economic, racial and social divisions by providing underserved youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in the arts.[1] The project annually hires 30 to 40 teenagers, often from urban Boston neightborhoods, for after-school work and training in the arts and entrepreneurship. The young artists produce work in six different studios, and then learn skills which allow them to display and sell the art they produce.

AFH seeks to address problems facing urban youth by encouraging the talent and energy of young people through hands-on experience in creativity, business, teamwork, and self-discipline. While young participants learn techniques and tools from professional artists, they learn to interact with the business world and prepare for future training, employment, and artistic exploration.

Begun in 1990 by Massachusetts artist Susan Rodgerson, the project originated with six middle school students in a Boston garage studio. Rodgerson expanded her personal effort into a non-profit organization in 1993, and moved to two floors of a wharf-area warehouse. Rodgerson, now acting as Artists for Humanity executive director, is weighing issues of expansion, staff turnover, and a capital campaign to raise money to secure funding and a building for the ongoing project.

External links

• Artists for Humanity