Forever on the palm of Art Feeds’ founder Meg Bourne’s hand is a tattoo of—a palm of a hand. The tattoo, a child’s hand with a heart engraved within the ink, is merely a small stamp on her skin, but it holds almost two decades of significance. In 2009, a college-aged Bourne was volunteering in a behavioral disorder classroom. While she worked diligently with each of the students, there was one student in particular who was clearly struggling to express himself. After learning more about his story, Bourne, an artist herself, used the creative outlet as a means to aid the young boy in finding his confidence – and Bourne swiftly saw progress. Bourne’s progress with the boy led her to utilizing art as a method of communication with the rest of the classroom. Her methodology soon led to the start of her nonprofit. Its logo? A drawing of the hand of her first client and the tattoo embossed on her palm.
“Creativity is an access point in helping kids show their own intelligence,” said Bourne. “I’ve always had an understanding that there is no bad person – we are just a product of what has happened to us. At Art Feeds, we help little artists process these big feelings.”
The nonprofit has grown exponentially since its 2009 founding in Joplin, Missouri. After a tornado swept through the town, the nonprofit shifted gears, expanding from marginalized classrooms to classrooms of all types and sizes.
“This shift showed us the need for wellness for everyone,” said Bourne. “Art is a collective expression, so we expanded our programming from there into other communities.”
In 2015, the nonprofit relocated its headquarters to Fayetteville. Bourne says that the city’s accessible volunteer crowd, its excitement for creativity, and its commitment to investing time, labor and finances into its businesses is what led them to make the move.
In its lifetime, Art Feeds has supported over 200,000 children from preschool through middle school in emotional, social and intellectual development through its programming across the globe. The nonprofit’s website offers over 400 lessons and projects for children of all ages, each designed as a tool for parents, caretakers and educators to foster a safe environment for childhood development.
The nonprofit utilizes process-based art, or art without a fixed outcome or specific intention. Unlike other art lessons or projects that clearly map out a list of steps to complete the project, Art Feeds instead focuses on the feeling or message that each art project evokes.
A popular in-person lesson from Art Feeds is its Paintbrush Buddies project, which utilizes upcycled paint brushes to create characters. According to Bourne, the project is approached with a therapeutic frame, with the children often using the paintbrush to create someone who inspires them or with whom they feel safe. “It helps them name what’s important to them and helps others understand,” said Bourne.
The lessons designed by Art Feeds are accessible through a two-tier monthly membership, each tailored to different needs. Alongside its membership levels, the nonprofit offers a community assist program, which grants accepted applications the full list of components from Art Feeds, as well as art supplies, free of charge to children and educational institutions around the world. The program works with over 25,000 children a year.
“Resourcing kids and helping them understand that they have creativity that they are born with, and no one can take it away from them as a resource – these are skills that are diminishing across the board,” said Bourne. “Our hope is that they see art as a tool that is accessible, that is not barred.”
If you are interested in supporting Art Feeds' mission, the nonprofit will be hosting a fundraiser throughout the summer, encouraging community members to pay a small amount per month to provide a free Art Feeds membership to whoever may need it. Additionally, Art Feeds sells art supplies on its website, artfeeds.org. For each package that is sold, a child receives a collection of art supplies.
“Where kids are, we want Art Feeds to be.”
“Creativity is an access point in helping kids show their own intelligence … At Art Feeds, we help little artists process big feelings."