Today is Arts of Life Giving Day! In a recent studio meeting, the artists asked if they could share their stories. Of course, we said yes. As we ask our community to come together today to ensure our artists have the support they deserve, you’ll hear directly from them about the difference your generosity makes. We need to raise at least $5,500 today to cover one studio’s monthly billing gap and keep pace toward our critical $60,000 summer goal! TODAY ONLY, three anonymous donors are matching gifts dollar for dollar up to $5,500 on top of our $15,000 foundation match, tripling your impact! P.S. Not only that - everyone who donates any amount TODAY ONLY will be entered in a raffle to receive a custom portrait drawn by artist Alex Scott! . . . #GivingDay #ArtsOfLife #Disability #ArtistAdvocate #BuildingCommunity (fb)

In 2020, our 20th anniversary plans were drastically altered by the pandemic. We banded together and increased opportunities for our artists to flourish. In the last 5 years, we:     •    Launched community programs in Evanston and Highland Park, and a new South Side Studio     •    Increased off-site trips and programming options at all studios     •    Exhibited artists’ work around the world     •    Established an industry-standard archive     •    Increased artist enrollment, now supporting 80+ artists with disabilities  With the support of hundreds of donors, we proved our resilience, and our artists thrived. We need you to join us again as our community faces an even bigger challenge in our 25th year. Over the past year alone, we lost over 40% of our traditional grant funding. Our two largest and most consistent foundations stopped funding direct services and left the nonprofit sector entirely. Now, the National Endowment for the Arts and Medicaid are being threatened. Arts of Life will host our second Giving Day this Thursday, May 29th. Each of our studios currently supports $5,500 of unreimbursed artist hours each month. This Thursday, we’re asking our community to come together and close this month’s gap. A generous donor is offering a one-day-only matching gift challenge, tripling your impact! Watch here Thursday for the challenge, a special raffle, and several snapshots of our community. Thank you for your support. We can’t wait to tell you more about the difference you are making. . . . #ArtsOfLife #MakeADifference #DisabilitiyAdvocate #ChicagoArtist (fb)