ARTREACH AUGUST NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 26, 2025
This Summer, ArtReach has been busy bringing art to life across San Diego. We led hands-on workshops with local teachers, created new community murals, wrapped up 10 weeks of youth summer camp, and received grant support from the Mission Beach Women’s Club! Read on to see the art, connections, and creativity we’ve been building together.
ArtReach Workshops Inspire Teachers and Classrooms
This summer, beyond their work in summer camps, ArtReach’s In-Class Residency Team has dedicated their teaching time to working closely with elementary and middle school teaching teams through ArtReach Professional Development workshops with Freese Elementary, Webster Elementary, Roosevelt Middle School, Montgomery Middle School, and High Tech Middle Point Loma. The purpose of these workshops is to bring teaching teams together to connect, promote community building, and engage in creativity as a self-care practice for themselves before the start of the school year.
Together, they have created dynamic, collaborative pieces of artwork while modeling how art-making can be seamlessly integrated into cross-curricular teaching. These workshops can also be adapted for teachers to facilitate with their own students during the first weeks of school to foster connection, community, and belonging within their classroom communities. These creative opportunities not only result in vibrant, collective works of art but also provide educators with practical experience in integrating creativity into subjects such as history, science, and language arts.
ArtReach’s Professional Development workshops highlight contemporary art practices and culturally responsive teaching, helping professionals connect art lessons to students’ identities, histories, and communities by introducing them to local contemporary artists from the San Diego–Tijuana border region. Through discussions, demonstrations, and collaborative activities, participants gain insight into using art as a vehicle for storytelling, self-care, and connection — all while filling their own cups first by building their artistic confidence and inspiring creativity in their students.
These workshops are designed to empower educators, community leaders, and youth-serving professionals with the tools to integrate visual arts into their practice in meaningful, accessible ways. Additionally, they emphasize process-based art making and social-emotional learning (SEL), providing participants with hands-on experiences and strategies they can immediately apply to their classrooms or programs. Participants engage in creative exploration, learn how to foster emotional expression through art, and discover how to build a supportive environment where every young person feels seen and valued.
Summer Mural Update
New projects and Team Appreciation!
This summer, we’ve been fortunate to work on a range of mural projects that reflect both the creativity and resilience of our community. One recent highlight is a new mural at the International Rescue Committee’s Women’s Resilience Center, shaped by the input of women from refugee communities including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti, and Arabic-speaking countries. Through a series of art workshops, participants shared symbols and themes important to them, ideas that became the foundation for Lead Artist JoJo Wang’s final design. Over three paint days, many of the women and their families helped bring the mural to life. At a time when refugee and immigrant communities continue to face serious challenges, this project was a chance to create something meaningful and lasting together. A chance to celebrate and have space to feel seen.
We also completed a new mural at 32Sixty Studios in Grant Hill, designed by Ian Stiles-Mikl. This bold, abstract piece brings geometric shapes and vibrant color to a quiet stretch of the neighborhood, adding visual energy to an otherwise industrial block. It’s the first of a few smaller summer projects that let us experiment with style, scale, and new partnerships.
Every mural takes a huge amount of hands-on effort to pull off, from hauling paint and ladders around the city, to setting up sites and scaffolding, to guiding dozens of participants through the painting process. Our mural team does it all: long days on their feet, painting under the sun, and staying focused on the details that bring each wall to life. On top of that, they lead with care, designing murals that reflect the voices of those we work with, and creating spaces where people feel proud to contribute.
As we look at our last mural season, we are proud to share that we completed 17 collaborative murals across 10 schools and 7 community sites, with 1,075 people painting alongside us. None of it happens without the dedication, skill, and heart of our mural team, and we’re lucky to work with such a thoughtful and hardworking group. Big thanks as well to our partner sites, volunteers, donors, and friends at Colorama Paint and Supply for being a part of it all.
Summer Camp Ends After 10 Fun Weeks
That’s a wrap on summer camp! Thank you to every young artist who painted, printed, sculpted, and collaged their way through our Hillcrest studio over the past 10 weeks—and a special thank you to the families who trusted us with their campers. We had so much fun creating with you this summer, and are honored to have been voted Best Day Camps in San Diego Magazine’s Best of San Diego. Your continued support fuels our mission to bring art to youth across our city!
Each week brought a fresh burst of creativity, from bold color explosion paintings and intricate wildlife sculptures, to dreamy botanical watercolors and hand-sewn textiles. Campers explored drawing, printmaking, collage, sewing, and clay work, crafting everything from carnival-inspired fashion to ocean-themed sculptures and space-age prints. With the guidance of our talented teaching artists, young creators experimented with new techniques, collaborated on group projects, and took home their own unique masterpieces—proof that art can spark joy, build skills, and inspire imagination.
ArtReach Receives Grant from Mission Beach Women’s Club
We’re honored to share that ArtReach was one of 15 local nonprofits selected to receive funding from the Mission Beach Women’s Club this year. Thanks to proceeds from their annual Casino Night fundraiser, the club awarded more than $31,000 to organizations across San Diego—supporting vital programs in arts, education, health, and community services.
This generous grant will help ArtReach continue to bring free, high-quality arts education to youth who may not otherwise have access. We’re so grateful to the Mission Beach Women’s Club for their commitment to strengthening our community, and for including ArtReach in their incredible legacy of giving that stretches back to their founding in 1926.
Save the Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
We’re excited to share that ArtReach is participating in San Diego Gives 2025, a powerful, countywide movement to support nonprofits making a difference right here in our community.
On this day, we’ll join hundreds of other local organizations in asking San Diegans to give where they live and support the causes that matter most to them. With your help, we can raise critical funds to support our free visual arts education programs, which serve thousands of K-12 students across San Diego County each year.
We’ll be sharing ways to get involved and spread the word as we get closer to the big day. For now, please mark your calendar and plan to support ArtReach on September 9! Please visit www.artreachsandiego.org/sandiegogives for more information about our fundraising efforts and the impact your donation will have on the community. For those who cannot give but still want to participate, you can help us spread the word by sharing our cause!
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