The Corps

Our Corps statement.

Arts Corps was founded in 2000 on the principle that all young people, not just those with resources, should have access to quality arts learning opportunities. Although research indicates that arts learning is one of the most potent tools to develop habits of critical thinking, persistence and reflection, schools have had to scale down or eliminate the arts altogether in recent years. With this in mind, Arts Corps has become a pioneer and innovative leader in addressing the arts gap, placing professional teaching artists at schools, community centers and other organizations in King County to facilitate a creative journey for young people, ages 5 to 19.

Teaching in diverse art forms and in all disciplines, our teaching artists reach 2,500 young people with powerful arts learning experiences each year. Our teaching artists model creative habits of mind and have a profound impact on the youth with whom they work. Evaluation data points to higher levels of creativity and problem-solving in students after taking an Arts Corps class. In addition, 33 percent of program partners reported that Arts Corps provides the only access to arts classes for a majority of their students.