Emergency Art Kits!

When CMA Artist in Residence Noormah Jamal began her teaching residency at Children’s Workshop School in the East Village, she noticed something — although her students excelled in art class, they lacked access to art materials outside of school to continue their practice.

Thus the idea for Emergency Art Kits was born. Inspired by communal food pantries that popped up during the pandemic, these art kits contain all of the materials necessary to continue making art outside of the classroom — air dry clay, sketchbooks, graphite, oil pastels, and paintbrushes, just to name a few. Entirely free of charge to students.

Thanks to the generous support of Cowles Charitable Trust and Blick Art Materials, we are able to provide art kits to students in ALL of our residency partner schools, including Hudson Guild and P396K Sid Miller Academy.

P396K even hosted a special distribution event, where students filled their own bags with art materials of their choice.

Three cheers to Noormah for the brilliant initiative and here’s to artmaking all summer long!