Introducing Art For All, the new name for the youth and community programming Arts at Millersville has been doing for over a decade. As we approach the Extraordinary Give this year, we want to let the public in on some of the important community services we offer, and some things even our most long-standing patrons might not realize. We’ve been a bit quiet and perhaps a bit humble, but we tell our story so that you might help us do even more in the coming years.

Did you know….

Much of our youth and community programming relies entirely on grant funding and donations?

Our free We The People First Friday family-friendly events feature local artists, largely from the BIPoC community? Artists are paid to perform, provided free space and technical and marketing support. Annual performances include “Acts of Welcome,” featuring Lancaster’s immigrant and refugee performing artists. Last year’s program included artists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, Argentina/Peru, Chad, Iraq, and Ukraine.

ALL performances and workshops for ALL schools are offered free? Included are the public performances of our We The People program, and the On /In Person film series, both of which serve family audiences.

Our multicultural, accessible Family Fun Fest series offers free pre-show hands-on creative activities for children? The opportunities are created and implemented by both campus and community partners. Additionally, free post-show experiences with the guest artists from around the world are offered to enrich the performance experience.

During the pandemic lockdown, our Art to Heart project paid (and continues to pay) local visual and performing artists to produce free video art classes (25 and counting,) for the public including those in Spanish and in ASL?

Additionally, Did you know we….

Offer our local rostered artists a living wage to teach their craft in hundreds of settings around the region including schools, senior centers, and community spaces? Our programs serve thousands of children, Veterans, adults and senior citizens in Lancaster, Lebanon, Chester, Berks, and Schuylkill Counties.

Were chosen to offer Neighborhood Bridges, a nationally acclaimed critical literacy program in the schools? As a result, kids who took this class scored 25% higher on the English Language component of their PSSAs.

Address climate change and science in our work, partnering with the National Wildlife Federation & Waxwing EcoWorks? Through this partnership, children build habitat gardens throughout Lancaster that become part of a national native pollinator corridor.

Have sponsored murals and tile-mosaic installations in six cities in South Central PA, transforming neighborhoods and public spaces?

Actively address and break down barriers to serve the entire community through partnerships, scholarships, free tickets, and performance opportunities? Financial barriers are eliminated by our invitation to the constituents of dozens of local Community Benefit Organizations to participate in performances and workshops conducted by nationally and internationally acclaimed performing artists at no cost

Provide over 150 scholarships for our Arts Smarts and M-Uth Theatre participants? Campers include children of all abilities, and our teen M-U^th Theater ensemble members, who face various life challenges, are each paid a stipend for their participation.

Eliminate additional barriers by providing free access to programming for children with sensory, cognitive, and/or physical disabilities, as well as limited English? We offer both non-verbal and bilingual presentations, ASL interpretation, Audio-Description, and Sensory-Friendly productions. All abilities are welcome to actively participate in our camps, which range from pre-school through college-age.

Host the School District of Lancaster Student Art Exhibits at both annual Art Walk Lancaster weekends, and we feature student work from other entities such as the Pennsylvania Migrant Education program?

Produced Lancaster’s only Arts Parade featuring every school district in the county when Lancaster hosted the Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Pennsylvania?

Offer annual free professional development and training for artists and schoolteachers?

Did you know we do this work with only two full-time employees and a limited budget?