Beyond Our Studios (Part II).
All Types of Partnerships with Little Art House through the years.
A priority of ours has always been making art accessible and available as much as we can. In an effort to do that, we have also explored a number of partnerships and events to see where and what might be most helpful throughout the community! Here are some of our past and present partnerships in addition our longterm, third party locations.
Ten years ago when we were in our first space on Music Row, the first partnership we initiated was with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Our aunt worked there and we knew it’d be a perfect partnership. We continue to provide classes as regularly as we can and it’s so rewarding! It’s amazing to be a part of the community supporting kids who are learning and growing into kind, thoughtful young adults. Art is a great way to connect with others over a wide range of ages while having fun and expressing yourself.
Another partnership we enjoyed for a few years was offering art making at the Picnic with the Library, the Nashville Public Library Foundation annual fundraiser. That is an awesome foundation supporting the Nashville Public Library, whose services we personalize utilize a LOT especially during camp season.
Artober is an annual celebration of art making and we try to participate each year with free offerings or specialty events/workshops as well. Anything that spreads and celebrates art making, we’re in!
We worked with the amazing Mark & Dottie to provide an art making table at the 12th S Farmers Market for a couple years pre-covid. It was so fun to see the community and all the local families who came each week :).
Another fun festival that is every August, and notorious to Nashvillians, is Tomatofest. From hosting craft tables to even judging the art show we join in whenever we can!
In 2024, we were so excited when Lovevery approached us to use our space as the backdrop for a book with their new social-emotional focused book series! Lovevery’s focus on intentional play with limited, quality materials aligns closely with how we set up our classes, camps and events. Learning and practicing skills for social, emotional and mental wellness is embedded in all our art making experiences. To start learning about them from a young age is ideal so it was a no brainer to say yes! It was awesome when the book was finally in our hands and we could see how it all came together. We think the joyful and safe feeling you have in our studios translates onto the pages!
When we realized we couldn't do as much as we wanted to through our for-profit business structure, we decided to launch Little Art House Foundation, our non-profit entity. This allowed us to pursue more of our ideas to support art making throughout Nashville including:
Reduced cost after school art clubs for a few MNPS elementary schools
Free Adult Classes at Shelby Park provided by Friends of Shelby
Free Adult Classes at Hadley Park provided by NPL adult programming
Various festivals through Good Neighbors
Running a non-profit has been more challenging and fulfilling than we could have imagined. We’ll share more about that experience and the status of Little Art House Foundation soon!
Do you have or know of a location that would be a fitting partnership to help get art making in that area of the community? Email Jenn@littlearthousefoundation.org and we’d love to chat more!