Children’s Art Centre Ribbon Cutting

United South End Settlements was joined by the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children on Monday afternoon to celebrate the re-opening of the Children's Art Centre. The two organizations gathered with the community to celebrate the importance of art spaces for children and to honor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, author and sociologist who has spent her career examining the relationship between culture and learning. Speakers included Melody Valdes, Chief Development Officer at USES, Anabelle Skalleberg, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for USES, Yvonne Lynch, President of the Bright Horizons Foundation, Stephen Kramer, Chief Executive Officer of Bright Horizons, and Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot as the honoree.

The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children granted USES a bright space, a project that the foundation does to create and sustain signature play spaces for those facing adversity, trauma, and crisis. They did this by partnering with USES to provide the funding to purchase needed furniture and materials, paint the walls, and most importantly, replace the broken mini-split system to ensure the space is safely and comfortably heated and cooled throughout the year. The team of volunteers worked tirelessly alongside USES' staff to refresh the space and make it functional for children's arts programming once again. The Children's Arts Centre was founded in 1914 as the first ever art museum in the US dedicated to children, where kids could come and interact with the art that was hung at their height, and have the chance to explore their creativity. The space now serves the over 100 children that attend USES' Early Childhood Education and club48 Out of School Time programs.