Our History

The Arts Project (TAP Inc.) was founded in Southwest Baltimore in 2018 by Executive Director Andrea Kennedy. As a native of Baltimore City, she recognized the need for safe spaces that provided arts exposure and access for young creatives. Matriculating through the Baltimore City Public School System, Andrea knew she was creative but needed access to opportunities to nurture her skills. As her network strengthened amongst community partners and stakeholders, she realized the lack of funding for the arts in City Schools and the lack of affordable access to the arts in underserved communities. This experience motivated her to provide creative spaces for children and youth like her as a child.

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Thus, The Arts Project launched in March 2018. Its inaugural event, “Create 4 Spring Break”, afforded 18 young people ages 6-11 a free five-day, full-day arts-integrated program hosted at Gospel Tabernacle Baptist Church in the Greater Rosemont community. 

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Over the last five years, we have been fortunate to touch 1,500+ youth and families through community partnerships and programming. As we strive to establish ourselves as a reputable organization in the SB7 communities and Southwest Baltimore region, our reach has extended to schools, Judy Centers, and Recreation Centers in the Lakeland, Cherry Hill, and Brooklyn neighborhoods. Each programmatic encounter is a safe space for creatives to see themselves as artists while learning critical skills to help them reach future goals. 

 

Our program's sustainability thus far is primarily because of strong community partnerships, hard-working volunteers, and donations from community members who continue to believe in our mission and vision. The organization is a volunteer-led organization with 13 volunteer art educators, event coordinators, and five working board members. 

 

Our dream is to grow into a citywide after-school program and mobile creation station with our resources to host "pop-up shops" for children to create in their communities. For now, we will be hosting events in a church, recreation center, or a studio near you! Make sure you subscribe to our email list to stay in the know of what we have coming up.