Kristoffer Klock

Academic Writing
Professor De Piero
2/18/15
Celebrating Emotional Connection First Draft

Living life in Santa Barbara is a mere pleasure. Under the hot

beams of the constantly glowing sun, surrounded by friendly faces
In a society with constantly growing social gaps, there is a need to
address this issue. Marginalized community members are put in the
shadows despite tremendous talents and ideas that many could
benefit from. The organization Arts For Humanity! is a non-profit
which saw the issue and decided to take action. Their organization
aims to empower at risk youth, people with disabilities, and the
elderly through visual arts programs. Although their actions may
seem inefficient their program has been proven to be incredibly
powerful.
- In order to sustain the organization they are in need of external
funding and people who are willing to volunteer for them.
- AH! Is actively working towards more effective communication with
the public and is constantly developing written materials to attract
anyone who is willing to help.
- Arts For Humanity! embraces a lot of pathos in their
writing to raise awareness about their cause. This is also the
most effective style of writing to illuminate the central
notion in the organization; celebrating humanity through the
arts.

Arts for Humanity! (AH!) was founded in 1997 in Santa

Barbara, CA by Karsen Lee Gould, MA, CDT, while working as a
Creative

Arts

developmental

teacher

providing

disabilities

programs

and/or

for

emotional

adults
disorders

with
at

Devereux/Santa Barbara. Karsen saw the opportunity to expand the

uplifting and inclusionary benefits of her arts teaching, which was
helping her students elevate beyond their disabilities by connecting
them with their creative inner lives and promoting their creativity to
the general public. Within a short time, Karsen began to apply her
approach to at-risk youth, and the elderly at numerous social service
agencies that became interested in her work. Inspired by the
realization that those in our community who are disadvantaged
and/or have special needs could benefit from the therapeutic and
affirming nature of the arts, Arts for Humanity! was launched.
Our mission is to enrich the lives of marginalized community
members, empowering them to feel confident, appreciated, and
accepted within the larger community. We strive to cultivate our
constituents creative potential as a means to strengthen their
individualism/identity and social connectedness.

As the work has

evolved and demand for our programs from community partners has
increased, Arts for Humanity! has also developed a robust Internship
Program to operate in conjunction with our Community Arts
Programs and Events and facilitate program delivery. This vital
program provides opportunities for college students to receive
hands-on

experience

working

with

marginalized

community

members while also developing teaching skills and learning about

the non-profit world. Were inspiring these future leaders to share
their enthusiasm, knowledge and skills with our constituents in the
social service sector; supporting inter-generational programming
and furthering our outreach.
Perhaps the most interesting piece of writing to look at after
these descriptive actions of Arts for Humanity! is the organizations
tag line Celebrating humanity through the arts. After my interview
with Karsen I understood that she feels strongly for this this phrase.
Although she had trouble explaining the significance of it, I can
somewhat understand how it reflects the values of Arts of
Humanity! Looking at the very first word: Celebrating. It is all about
happiness and good times. The word really reflects the thought of
empathy as well. Celebration is often something done in unity.