Life On Art

What Life On Art does

Life On Art is a Petaluma, California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation (legal name Life on Earth Art, EIN 87-3805682) founded in 2018 by multimedia artist Tracy Ferron. The organization uses collaborative, participatory art-making — built around the proprietary iconography of paper mâché winged hearts and cages — as a therapeutic and community-healing methodology. It serves psychiatric patients, incarcerated individuals, veterans, at-risk youth, and general community members through structured programs and large-scale installations, including the flagship 80-foot Unbound sculpture (800 paper mâché hearts built behind the locked gates of California Department of State Hospitals-Napa), Spellbound, The Spell, Street Fleet, and the Visions of Hope: Art of the Incarcerated exhibition. Therapeutic programming includes the Heart Stories workshop series (corrections), the Heart Space curriculum (co-developed with Dominican University of California Doctoral Art Therapy candidates), Heartmaking workshops, and the Unite Create Heal custom curriculum. The Follow Your Heart Initiative provides a digital tracking layer connecting contributors to global heart deployments, and the Visions of Hope exhibition is also accessible via the Bloomberg Connects mobile app.

The organization’s revenue model is primarily philanthropic: tax-deductible individual donations under IRC §170, foundation and government grants, IRA distributions, and appreciated stock donations, supplemented by modest earned income from a Studio Space/Cowork rental program at $3 per square foot and yoga classes with a suggested $12 donation. All therapeutic programming — prison workshops, veteran programs, teen/youth programs, and gallery admission — is offered at no cost to participants. The go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: volunteer mobilization, partner referrals (11+ named partner organizations), earned media coverage (Napa Valley Register, Petaluma Argus-Courier, Marin Independent Journal, Salinas Valley Tribune, Press Democrat), public exhibitions at venues such as the Museum of Sonoma County and Marin County Civic Center, and a 133 Copeland St gallery open Thursday–Sunday. There are no outside investors, no disclosed revenue or audited financials, and no subsidiaries; operations are concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area and broader Northern California, with awareness reach into Street Fleet global deployments.

Life On Art is founder-led by CEO Tracy Ferron with a four-person staff (Stevan Bosanac, Ellora Coombs-Echenhofer, Saba Khalid) and governed by a six-person board (Chair Carroll Yandell, Treasurer Mark Ferron, Secretary Emily Scott, plus Catherine Ainsworth, Todd Disney, and Elena Fortuna). Recognition includes the 2023 CodaWorx Top 100 Global Large-Scale Artworks, the 2023 Director's Top Award from DSH-Napa, and the 2022 National Organization of Arts in Health First Place Award for Arts for Innovation. The organization’s documented scale includes 1,500+ Unbound contributors, 225+ incarcerated participants across 12 workshops, and 3,000+ attendees at the Los Olvidados Liberados installation at the Museum of Sonoma County.

Name

Life On Art

Legal name

Life on Earth Art

Website

https://lifeonart.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Life On Art is a Petaluma, California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that uses collaborative paper mâché winged-heart art-making as a therapeutic methodology for psychiatric patients, incarcerated individuals, veterans, and at-risk youth, and produces touring large-scale installations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Arts and Nonprofit Art Therapy Services

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (71151)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAHAC

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Arts, Culture & Heritage Nonprofits

SECONDARYEDAAAGAA

Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration)

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Personal Enrichment & Hobby Learning (Arts, Crafts, Music, Cooking)

Keywords

• Community art therapy
• Collaborative art installations
• Nonprofit arts organization
• Healing arts programs
• Radical inclusion art

Headquarters

HQ city

Petaluma

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible charitable contributions under IRC Section 170 for donors. EIN 87-3805682. Some IRS documents refer to Life On Art as Life on Earth Art, its alternative dba name.
2. Grants: Grant funding from foundations and government sources. Contact for grants: [email protected]
3. Studio Space Rentals: Rental program for artists and activists with 24/7 access, collaborative spaces, communal kitchen, high-speed WiFi, and shared fabrication equipment. Prices start at $3 per square foot with various sizes available.
4. Cowork Membership Program: Cowork-style membership program offering access to studio facilities and artistic community.
5. IRA Distributions: Mandatory IRA distributions can be made directly through retirement accounts to support the organization's work.
6. Appreciated Stock Donations: Donations of appreciated stock or inclusion in charitable estate plans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Life On Art is a nonprofit organization that delivers free, community-based participatory art programs and large-scale collaborative installations centered on the iconography of winged hearts and cages. Programs are delivered on-site at correctional facilities, state hospitals, veteran centers, schools, and community locations, with participants from marginalized populations acting as contributing artists. The organization also operates a Studio Space coworking rental program and exhibits work at museums, civic centers, and the Bloomberg Connects digital platform.

Product overview

Life On Art is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of large-scale art installations, healing art programs, and community engagement initiatives built around the iconography of winged hearts and cages. The core offerings include large-scale art installations such as Unbound (a paper maché winged heart sculpture at Napa State Hospital), Spellbound, The Spell, Street Fleet, and past installations like Los Olvidados Liberados and At the Heart of It All. Supporting these are healing art programs including the Heart Stories program, Heart Space curriculum, and Unite Create Heal custom curricula. Community programs include Community Art Making volunteer workshops and the Follow Your Heart initiative. The organization also operates a Studio Space/cowork membership program for artists and activists. All offerings center on the mission to unite people through collaborative art-making as a platform for global healing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Unbound An 80-foot sculpture featuring 800 handmade paper maché winged hearts, amplified by movement, song, and spoken word. Built and painted behind the locked gates of California's Department of State Hospitals-Napa as a collaborative artwork by psychiatric patients, therapists, teens, and community volunteers to foster rehabilitation and global healing.
• Spellbound A 12-ft spherical steel cage which casts mysterious shadows as it slowly revolves, housing a 15-ft winged heart. Designed to easily pop-up in locations and used to explore issues of imprisonment and liberation.
• The Spell A formidable 8-ft square wooden cage covered in paper money with a coin floor, featuring a glowing 4-ft stained glass earth revolving within, representing the worldview destroying the planet.
• Street Fleet A global initiative deploying Winged Hearts all over the world as a catalyst for belonging, healing, and social action, inspired by the Unbound concept but unbound from the hospital setting.
• Los Olvidados Liberados: The Forgotten Ones Set Free A community art installation honoring 1000 children with cerebral palsy who were medically experimented on at Sonoma State Hospital in the 1950s, created using Mexican cartoneria paper art tradition and exhibited at the Museum of Sonoma County with over 3000 attendees.
• At the Heart of It All: Righting the World A 9-foot winged heart featuring the names of fallen human and earth rights activists, with inscriptions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth on its wings.
• Visions of Hope: Art of the Incarcerated A multimedia installation of art created by people experiencing incarceration in California, featuring more than 225 participants from correctional facilities. Showcased at the Marin County Civic Center from September 5 through October 24, 2024 and available digitally on the Bloomberg Connects app, the exhibition builds bridges and advocates for criminal justice reforms and access to the arts for rehabilitation.
• Heart Stories Program A workshop series inviting incarcerated individuals to explore their 'heart story' through painting and expressive writing on paper maché winged heart sculptures. Delivered inside California correctional facilities including CTF-Soledad and CCWF-Chowchilla.
• Heart Space Program A research-based art therapy workshop series developed with Dominican University of California and co-created with Doctoral Art Therapy candidates, designed to foster unification and healing through collaborative paper maché heart making and art installation.
• Unite, Create, Heal Program Custom educational programs for organizations and corporations to learn about the healing power of art through multi-day workshops that enable members to discover their inner artist and contribute to something bigger than themselves.
• Community Art Making Volunteer-based heart-making workshops where community members create paper maché winged hearts together, fostering belonging and purpose through collaborative art.
• Studio Space / Cowork Membership A studio rental and cowork membership program offering 24/7 access, collaborative spaces, shared fabrication equipment including laser cutter, spray booth, vacu-form machine, woodworking equipment, and animation table, with pricing starting at $3 per square foot.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500 psychiatric patients reported increased sense of belonging, pride, and accomplishment through Unbound project participation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

25 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Blue Zones Project PetalumaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership for Caring For The Caregivers support group - 10-week program for non-professional caregivers.
• Petaluma Downtown AssociationminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership for Butter and Eggs Day float-building workshop and Arts Alive! monthly art experiences.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-MarinminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Heart Space program delivery at Roseland Community Clubhouse and San Jose Middle School Club with 8 sessions per location for 10-20 youth each.
• Dominican University of CaliforniacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Academic partnership to develop Heart Space art therapy curriculum with Doctoral Art Therapy candidates. Six-session workshop series exploring paper maché heart making and collaborative art installation for fostering unification and healing. Includes academic research study.
• The Philanthropy WorkshopminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Global conference partnership for Spellbound debut at Think Again conference, featuring Sarah McLachlan performance.
• VetArt (Veterans Art Project)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with veterans art organization to create Pop-up Art Café at Sonoma County Veterans Art Day. Collaboration includes art instruction, veteran artist support, and shared vision for supporting veteran artists through ceramics, glass, drawing, painting, and 3D design programs.
• COTS (Committee on the Shelterless)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Petaluma nonprofit serving unhoused individuals, providing art supplies and collaborative programming including upcycled artwork for community art sessions.
• Museum of Sonoma CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership hosting multiple installations including Los Olvidados Liberados (2018) and INBOUND: Surrounded By Love (2023) for Día de los Muertos exhibitions. Over 3000 attendees per exhibition.
• The Marin SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHigh school partnership providing volunteer opportunities for students and collaborative art-making experiences.
• Chops Teen ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeen center partnership providing youth volunteer opportunities and community service hour programs.
• Credo High SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHigh school partnership for student volunteer programs and community art projects.
• Carondelet High SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHigh school partnership for student engagement and community service opportunities.
• Interlink Self-Help CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Mill Valley social services organization for community art programming.
• Mill Valley Music FestminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMarketing and community partnership through music festival events.
• AWBW (A Woman's Breath of Wellness)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWellness organization partnership supporting community healing through art.
• Journey AcademyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchool partnership providing educational and artistic programming opportunities.
• Department of State Hospitals-NapacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlagship partnership creating Unbound installation with 500+ psychiatric patients, 200+ therapists and staff, and 350+ youth volunteers. 9-month collaborative art-making program using innovative therapeutic, recreational, and rehabilitative modalities including art therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, and recreation therapy.
• California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState government partnership for Pop-up Art Café at Sonoma County Veterans Art Day. Co-sponsor of veteran art programming.
• Correctional Training Facility (CTF-Soledad)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState prison partnership for Visions of Hope workshops - Feather Journey and Heart Stories programs for 75 incarcerated men over 7 months.
• Central California Women's Facility (CCWF-Chowchilla)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState prison partnership for Visions of Hope - six-part Heart Stories workshop series for 65 women including 8 weekly sessions.
• People's Commission for Integrity in Criminal JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for Marin County Civic Center Visions of Hope exhibition, advocating for criminal justice reforms and access to arts for rehabilitation.
• Arts Unity MovementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for juvenile justice art therapy program at Margaret J. Kemp Camp.
• Margaret J. Kemp CampminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth services residential center partnership for art therapy with juvenile offenders using 3-ft winged hearts.
• California Prison FocusminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner for San Quentin protest production drawing attention to state negligence during COVID-19.
• No Justice Under CapitalismminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner for San Quentin protest against inmate deaths during COVID-19 pandemic.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Project Row Houses: Houston-based nonprofit that uses art and culture as a platform for community transformation in historically underserved neighborhoods. Comparable artist-led, place-based nonprofit combining community art-making, exhibitions, and social impact outcomes.
• Creativity Explored: San Francisco-based nonprofit art studio that supports artists with developmental disabilities through studio programming, exhibitions, and community partnerships. Highly comparable mission of using art-making as a vehicle for belonging, dignity, and public exhibition of work from marginalized participants.
• Open Studio Project: Illinois-based nonprofit that delivers arts programming for marginalized populations including veterans, incarcerated individuals, and at-risk youth. Closely aligned model of using participatory art as therapeutic and rehabilitative intervention with similar beneficiary cohorts.
• Creative Growth: Oakland-based nonprofit art center supporting adult artists with disabilities through studio programs, exhibitions, and global representation. Directly comparable nonprofit model combining therapeutic/community art with public-facing exhibitions and a global reputation.
• Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network: National Endowment for the Arts initiative providing creative arts therapies to service members, veterans, and their families across clinical and community settings. Directly comparable veteran-focused healing arts programming operating at a national policy level.

Others

• National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH): Industry membership organization advancing the role of the arts in health settings and conferring the annual NOAH awards, including the First Place Award for Arts in Innovation that Life On Art received for the Unbound installation. Functions as an ecosystem enabler and peer benchmarking body.

Emerging players

• Art with Impact: Nonprofit that uses film and media-based programming to promote mental health awareness and connection, particularly among young adults. Comparable mission of leveraging creative expression as a platform for mental health and social-emotional outcomes at a smaller scale.

Broad incumbents

• VSA at the Kennedy Center: Established national program of the John F. Kennedy Center promoting arts education and creative expression for people with disabilities. Broader in scope and significantly better resourced, but operating in an adjacent arts-for-marginalized-populations space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/life_on_art_petaluma
• Facebookfacebook.com/lifeonearthart
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lifeonart
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/life-on-art

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Life On Art