ABOUT ART FROM THE HEART

In 2024, Camryn Sanchez founded Art from the Heart to combine her passion for art with her passion for serving her community. Art from the Heart's mission is to improve access to art resources on regional, national, and international levels.

Camryn has dedicated herself to her mission: providing equal art access, no matter what. Camryn's drive to create Art from the Heart was derived from her own experiences with anxiety and using art as a mechanism for healing. She knew there were other kids who could greatly benefit and heal from art as well. Upon researching, she learned that in her home state of New Jersey, "per-pupil spending on arts education decreases as poverty levels increase." Camryn found this statistic to be deeply disheartening, as she knows every child deserves equal access to the arts. She also recognizes that this problem persists across the entire U.S., as well as across the globe. A study published in The National Library of Medicine showed that people with the lowest levels of education had 51% lower odds of being involved in the arts compared to those with higher education. This directly reflects reduced access to arts resources and opportunities depending on a person's socioeconomic class. But as we all know, art is for everyone. And Art from the Heart is dedicated to helping make art for all.

Camryn has led many initiatives to achieve her goal. She has hosted dozens of local fundraisers to garner art supply donations for community centers in marginalized areas. Internationally, Camryn traveled to an underserved elementary school named Institución Educativa El Rosario to host art classes for the students there. The school is located in the rural Colombian village of Paipa in Boyacá. The trip truly connected with Camryn's love for her Hispanic heritage and her Colombian roots. Locally, Camryn visits underserved community centers in Newark, NJ, that serve a population of students—many of whom are migrants—residing in a neighborhood with poverty levels of 25% and underfunded extracurricular programs.

Through these service trips, fundraisers, and even her blog (where she creates low-budget, creative arts projects), Camryn is catalyzing the change she hopes to see in her world—allowing others to use art as a form of healing, growth, and empowerment. As an aspiring child therapist, Camryn knows Art from the Heart is just the first step in her journey to do so.

If you are also interested in joining this mission, please reach out to join our efforts to share art—from our hearts—across the globe.