Free Arts for Abused Children

What Free Arts for Abused Children does

Free Arts for Abused Children is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1977 that delivers free art-based mentorship programs to youth ages 5–17 affected by abuse, neglect, homelessness, or poverty. Its six core programs — Teaching Artist Mentor Program, Dancing with Free Arts Stars, Hospital Artistry Program, Court Program, Free Arts for Families, and community Art Festivals — combine one-on-one mentoring with group creative experiences, delivered through 30 community partnerships including schools, foster agencies, hospitals, and the LA Dependency Court system. The organization reports that 78 cents of every dollar goes to programs and that 16,500 youth are served annually by a small staff and 225+ volunteers.

The underlying delivery model is relationship-intensive: Teaching Artists and mentors are recruited from the communities served, and programs are embedded inside partner institutions (hospitals, courts, schools). Outcomes are measured through a partnership with Hello Insight, with 2024 results showing gains in resiliency (46% → 54%), social skills (32% → 68%), and self-efficacy (24% → 76%). Impact claims are also supported by peer-reviewed research from Joseph P. Bush, Ph.D. at Fielding Graduate Institute.

The organization is funded entirely through philanthropy — individual donations, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants (including the Ahmanson Foundation), planned giving, and the annual Art Swagger fundraising event — with no fees charged to beneficiaries. A new website launched in January 2025, a Capital Campaign, and a Founders Circle major-donor track signal ongoing investment in fundraising infrastructure. Leadership is led by CEO Bianca Hunter, who was promoted from Development Director in 2022.

Name

Free Arts for Abused Children

Legal name

Free Arts for Abused Children

Website

https://freearts.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Free Arts for Abused Children is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) founded in 1977 that provides free art-based mentorship programs to approximately 16,500 youth ages 5–17 affected by abuse or poverty annually, delivered through 30 community partnerships and 225+ volunteers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Social Services

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (611610), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Youth art programs
• Trauma informed services
• Nonprofit youth services
• Community arts education
• Mentorship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Financial gifts from individual donors supporting art programs for children. Donors can give through the website donation portal.
2. Corporate Sponsorship & Giving: Corporate engagement through volunteering, event sponsorship, gift-matching programs, and direct corporate donations. Includes Art Swagger annual event sponsorships.
3. Planned Giving & Legacy Donations: Include Free Arts in estate planning through bequests, stocks, real estate, or life insurance policies. Members of The Legacy Society receive special event invitations.
4. Stock Donations: Donors can contribute stock directly, taking advantage of potential tax benefits while supporting the mission.
5. Art Supply Donations: In-kind donations of art supplies through the organization's wish list, supporting program delivery.
6. Foundation Grants: Support from foundations such as The Ahmanson Foundation. Free Arts website was launched in January 2025 with foundation funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Free Arts for Abused Children provides free, curriculum-based art programs and therapeutic workshops for children ages 5-17 in Los Angeles who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, poverty, or homelessness. Delivered through 30 community partnerships by 225+ volunteer teaching artists and mentors, programs include weekly art education classes, hospital art therapy, court-based interventions, dance/movement wellness, family bonding workshops, and community art festivals. All programs are curriculum-based, culturally and linguistically responsive, and validated through peer-reviewed research.

Product overview

Free Arts for Abused Children is a nonprofit organization offering art-based therapeutic and educational programs for underserved youth in Los Angeles ages 5-17 who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, poverty, and homelessness. The organization operates six core programs: the Teaching Artist Mentor Program (weekly art classes in painting, sketching, clay, and mindfulness), Dancing with Free Arts Stars (wellness through dance and movement), the Holding Hands Artistry Hospital Program (virtual art therapy for hospitalized children), the Court Program (art interventions for youth in judicial proceedings), Free Arts for Families (family bonding through art), and Art Festivals (community celebrations). Programs run in three cycles of 6-8 weeks, with 1.5-2 hour weekly sessions divided into age groups. The organization also hosts the annual Art Swagger fundraising event. All programs are curriculum-based, culturally and linguistically responsive, and delivered by trained teaching artists and mentors at partner sites across Los Angeles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Arts Teaching Artist Mentor Program Weekly art education classes engaging 15-20 youth in painting, sketching, clay work, vision boards, mindfulness techniques, and writing projects for 6-8 weeks at partnering sites, designed for youth ages 5-17.
• Dancing with Free Arts Stars Wellness program engaging youth in dance, movement, mindfulness techniques, breath work, and artistic movement while developing healthy ways to combat stress through exercise and nutrition.
• Free Arts Holding Hands Artistry Hospital Program Art therapy program delivered at MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital in Long Beach, providing virtual and in-person art activities to decrease anxiety in hospitalized children, delivered two days per week via hospital broadcasting studio with art materials provided to patients.
• Free Arts for Court Program Art-based intervention program at Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court providing solace to youth waiting to testify, counseling, visitation, and adoption proceedings, with two sessions per week and flexible timing to accommodate unpredictable court wait times.
• Free Arts for Families Weekly six to eight-week program strengthening family bonds through art while improving family communication and creating happy memories for families engaged through partner social service organizations.
• Free Arts Art Festivals One-day community events celebrating underserved and marginalized communities through culturally responsive art, music, and food sourced from local vendors, providing access to art experiences and connecting neighbors while learning self-advocacy.
• Art Swagger Annual Event Annual interior design and art industry event since 2011 that raises awareness and funds for Free Arts Los Angeles, featuring local artist installations through an art walk and concluding with a silent auction, catered bites, crafted cocktails, tequila tasting, and networking, with corporate sponsorship opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Resiliency improved from 46% to 54% among youth participants (2024)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long BeachcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFree Arts delivers the Holding Hands Artistry Hospital Program at this hospital two days a week, engaging pediatric patients in art activities via the hospital's broadcasting studio and in-person sessions (starting Spring 2025) in the Cherese Mari Laulhere Child Life Program.
• Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court - Shelter CarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShelter Care and Transportation Unit within the Department of Children and Family Services supports children placed in foster homes and group homes with transportation to dependency court hearings. Free Arts works one-on-one with children in the program through art-based interventions.
• Aviva Family and Children's ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization providing support and resources for families. Free Arts provides art programming aligned with their mission and values, supporting staff and families served.
• Fielding Graduate InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoseph P. Bush, Ph.D. at Fielding Graduate Institute conducted peer-reviewed, published research validating that Free Arts programs improve communication skills and affect in youth participants.
• Hello InsightminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOutside evaluation firm engaged by Free Arts to measure ongoing program outcomes including resiliency, social skills, and self-efficacy improvements.
• Los Angeles Community Partners (30 organizations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFree Arts partners with 30 community organizations across Los Angeles serving children in historically marginalized communities. These partnerships enable delivery of culturally responsive art workshops to underserved youth.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Childhelp: National nonprofit focused on child abuse prevention, treatment, and advocacy; comparable as a peer serving the same target population of abused and at-risk children, even though service modality (residential, hotline) differs.
• Children's Defense Fund: National child advocacy organization working on behalf of at-risk children including abused and neglected youth. Comparable beneficiary population and policy/grant ecosystem relevance.
• Young Audiences Arts for Learning: National network delivering arts-in-education programming to K–12 students, including underserved populations. Comparable function but at national scale, with curriculum-based delivery and outcomes measurement.
• National Children's Alliance: National association supporting Child Advocacy Centers serving child abuse victims. Comparable mission focus on abused children; adjacency rather than direct services overlap.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National youth development organization serving at-risk youth, including arts programming alongside academic and athletic offerings. Comparable target population and partner-served delivery.

Emerging players

• The Actors' Gang: LA-based professional theater company that runs outreach arts programming for underserved youth and underserved communities. Partial overlap in LA arts-education-for-vulnerable-youth, though professionally-led rather than volunteer-driven.

Direct peers

• Inner-City Arts: Los Angeles-based nonprofit providing visual and performing arts education to underserved youth, often via schools and community partners. Highly comparable in mission, geography, and curriculum-based delivery to Free Arts.
• Big Thought: Dallas-based nonprofit delivering creative learning and arts education programming to underserved youth through school and community partnerships; matches Free Arts' curriculum-based delivery model and outcomes measurement posture.
• AileyCamp (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater): Free, arts-intensive summer residency serving underserved youth through dance, with mentoring and outcome evaluation. Comparable mission (trauma-informed arts education), age band, and partner-served delivery model.
• Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA): LA youth development nonprofit combining academic support with arts, music, and athletics for underserved youth ages 6–18. Directly comparable target population and arts-based programming mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/FreeArtsLA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/free-arts-for-abused-children
• Instagraminstagram.com/freeartsla

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Free Arts for Abused Children