A group of third graders huddles around a table at Seventh Street Elementary School, their arms weaving over each other and brows furrowed as they thoughtfully stack Legos. “Who knows how to build a house?” one asks. “I do!” another shouts. They’re collaborating to build a set with the plastic bricks, which they’ll use to film a stop motion animation starring Lego characters in a story the students wrote. Each student wrote his own film, their teacher, Melinda Bissett, says,

Elena Petroukhina, an art teacher at Mann Arts Magnet Middle School in Little Rock, is a Thea’s Art Closet veteran. Over the years, she’s been able to supply her classroom with creative materials that typically fall outside of her annual budget. “We get a budget for each school year. Usually that covers the basics like pencils, markers, paper, some paint. To give students a variety of experiences with art media, I have to raise extra funds,” Petroukhina said. “Because Mann is

Every year, Thea Foundation awards 30 scholarships to students across Arkansas. Our scholarships are completely inclusive, meaning they're never awarded based on test scores, GPAs, or intent to major in the arts. Students may take their scholarship to any college or trade school they prefer, but if they attend one of Thea's 27 partnering institutions, including every 4-year college in Arkansas, they'll get a matching scholarship from that school that often exceeds what studen

In 2014, Thea Foundation launched a new program, called Arts Reconstruction, to create new and augment existing arts programs within schools, making sure that the arts are accessible during the day when school is in session. Orchestra programs were added to schools throughout central Arkansas, and visual arts teachers were trained in new techniques and given specialized equipment and supplies to carry out these enhanced lesson plans. Each Arts Reconstruction school is monitor

Take a stroll through White Hall High School, and you’ll see it couldn’t be more aptly named. The walls are stark and bare, unless it’s almost the Chinese New Year and you’re in Mr. Bowman’s wing. Near his art room, the walls come alive with colorful paper dragons, all part of a project funded by Thea’s Art Closet. “I believe it is important to celebrate with other cultures, and it gives my students an opportunity to try a different form of art, “ Bowman said about the appeal

Together, Nakia Brener and Allen Sullivan, both teachers at Rogers Heritage High School in Rogers, Ark., have posted six projects to DonorsChoose.org appealing for supplies to teach arts-related material to their students. Five of those projects received half of their funding from Thea Foundation through Thea’s Art Closet, whose mission is to fill in the gaps where schools lack or don’t prioritize funding for arts materials. “I am very fortunate to have a school district and

Patty Oeste, a seventh grade teacher at Ruth Doyle Middle School, located in Conway, Ark., didn’t know what to expect when she launched her first project on DonorsChoose.org, but she knew that her students needed supplies and she had to try something new to make up for what her school’s budget severely lacked. “Over the years I have raised funds by selling candy, pencils and waiting tables with student helpers,” she explained. “The money comes together very slowly that way.”