providing art to those in need
art4theppl is a project founded by artist Steph Hargrove in 2014. The project provides access to art supplies, art experiences, and arts education to children and adults in need. art4theppl isn’t a non-profit organization. Steph sells art and donates a portion of her profits to financially support the project.
want in?
If you want to help human beings you don’t even know have access to the arts, you can shop these items to support art4theppl. You can also volunteer to host a ridiculously fun craft party to raise funds. Either way, thank you for being so fucking amazing.
NEW! Join the Coloring Club!
Join Steph for coloring and coffee with art4theppl!
Steph started this group that’s open to any awesome human being who enjoys coloring. We’ll meet at coffee shops around Pinellas county, hang out, enjoy a beverage, and color. That’s it.
Totally optional for group members: donate your colored pages to art4theppl so Steph can turn them into fundraising artwork and accessories.
Click here to join and let’s color!
Arts Education for Orphans
Artist Steph Hargrove created the art4theppl project in 2014 to provide arts education to the ACK Madeleine School in Bungoma, Kenya. art4theppl has successfully implemented and continued the arts program since that time. Most of the students at ACK are orphans, many of them having lost their parents to AIDS. For these children, the school is their only source of food and medical care, and students walk long distances to attend school. Around 200 children are served. Individual photos along with personal stories can be found at www.orphanoutreach.co.
The primary objective of art4theppl is to implement and continue a curriculum that includes arts education and utilizes art supplies in hands-on projects across multiple subjects to improve student participation and success. Before any resources are dedicated to this endeavor, we must first ensure that all of the basic needs are met for each student and teacher. Fortunately, Orphan Outreach fundraises to provide food, clothing, shoes, clean water, teacher salaries, and medical care which allows art4theppl to supply funds for art supplies.
art4theppl is not a non-profit organization. It is simply an artist, Steph, who creates and sells art and organizes fundraisers to support the project and then donates funds collected to Orphan Outreach, a non-profit organization based in Plano, TX. After extensive research, it was determined that funds used in this manner would go further and do the most good. Steph is able to dictate exactly how funds are to be used by Orphan Outreach. Orphan Outreach purchases the requested supplies in Kenya, which supports the local economy. Also, due to exchange rates, the funds are worth about 3 times more when spent in Kenya versus in the US. This method also alleviates shipping issues, as getting large amounts of goods from the U.S. to Kenya is no small or inexpensive feat.
Steph, along with the volunteers from Orphan Outreach who travel to Bungoma annually to work at the school, see great value in bringing the arts to the lives of these children. The teaching style used in most African cultures is lecture based. Any children who are visual or kinesthetic learners struggle to connect with the material being taught. Statistically most of these kids will not finish school. We hope to improve their chances of success by engaging them in new ways. When art supplies are introduced into the classroom, suddenly teachers have new ways of connecting their students with lessons. And not just in art, but also in science, history and other subjects. What was once a struggle is now a fun and exciting experience. Secondly, the arts provide these kids with an alternative voice. Unfortunately many will resort to violence to express anger, fear, or sadness. With the arts, those feelings can be freely and safely expressed through music, dance, creative writing, painting, and other artistic endeavors resulting in healthier, happier humans.