Art is a window to the wider world.

We partner with public libraries, turn their under-used community rooms into free art schools, and put a paid resident teaching artist in each one.

96 point gain on the SAT

3x more likely to earn a bachelor's degree

5× less likely to drop out of high school

Impact

One class changes the whole building.

Nearly 4 million U.S. children receive no art instruction at school. Once a class starts meeting in a branch, the library changes too.

71% report increase of community in their library and neighborhood

68% of students ages 8–18 checked out a book before or after class

89% report spending more time at the library since starting classes

62% of accompanying families pick up a book or use another library service

Story

projectart founder and Executive Director Adarsh Alphons learned firsthand the impact art can have on the life of a child.

Adarsh Alphons grew up in India, drawing through every school day — a passion, skill and survival mechanism that got him kicked out of school at seven. His next school offered art classes, and in 1990 he was commissioned to draw Nelson Mandela’s portrait and present it to him during a state visit.

Newly graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art, he took a job at the Harlem School of the Arts. It gave him a sightline to arts education in New York: inaccessible, inequitable, under-resourced neighborhoods hardest hit. He created ProjectArt to close the gap, and a CNN Hero and Columbia University Community Scholar, he continues to lead it.

View the thesis

Timeline – 2011 to 2026

2011

With little more than a bag full of art supplies and borrowed office space in Harlem, Adarsh began ProjectArt. There was one goal and one goal only: to put paintbrushes in the hands of as many children without access to adequate arts education as possible. Soon, friends became teachers, parents became volunteers and kids became students.
2012

First class 10 students

First library Hamilton Grange
2013

Spring 2 classes at Hamilton Grange; 20 students

Summer 3 classes at Hamilton Grange; 30 students

Fall Expansion to Brooklyn + two libraries: Bushwick and Brooklyn Central; 3 classes; 30 students
2014

Spring 7 classes; 70 students; expansion to Queens + 3 libraries: Flatbush Brownsville, Corona, Long Island City

Summer 10 classes; 100 students + 3 libraries: Saratoga, Broadway and Arlington

Fall 13 classes; 130 students; expansion to Bronx + 4 libraries: Hunts Point, Grand Concourse, Steinway and Cypress Hills
2015

Spring Increased class size from 10 to 15

Summer 14 classes; 210 students. Plus 3 libraries: Coney Island South, Jamaica, 125th Street County Cullen

Fall 21 classes; 315 students; expansion to Staten Island + 6 libraries: Crown Heights, Arlington, Allerton, Queens Central, Cambria Heights and Stapleton
2016

Spring 28 classes; 420 students; +1 library: Courts Square

Summer 17 classes; 255 students; +1 library: Red Hook

Fall Expanded to Detroit and Miami, +2 libraries NYC
2017

Expanded to Chicago, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles
2018

Expanded to New Orleans, LA
2019

Expanded to San Francisco, CA
2020

COVID lockdown. Launched virtual classes
2021

Virtual classes!
2022

Hybrid — remote + in-person classes...
2023

Reopening in-person classes across the nation. Expanded to Cincinnati, OH
2024

Expansion to Newark, NJ
2026

Expansion to Broward County, FL