Children’s Museum of the Arts

CMA’s ARTogether program provides an opportunity for families who are receiving preventive services, in foster care working toward reunification, or building kinship relationships to bond, interact, and play together in a comfortable and positive environment. ARTogether is designed to provide engaging and interactive community-based visits for families with children ages 3-12 years old. Click here to download the referral form.

How ARTogether Works:
CMA’s clinically trained visit facilitator, Sarah Pousty guides families through the art and play activities offered at CMA to enhance communication, and encourages family interaction during the museum’s public hours. Families meet at the museum for 8 two-hour visits with the ARTogether visit facilitator. By transforming visits into productive opportunities for family bonding, ARTogether helps participating families build the trust and stability necessary for strong relationships by:

The visitation model used in ARTogether employs a strength-based and family centered approach. CMA’s visit facilitator works with parents and referring workers to develop individualized visit plans that identify specific goals, visit routine, and objectives for each family. Additionally families can receive one hour of private engagement time where they work on more personalized art directives with the visit facilitator.

After each session the facilitator is responsible for documenting activities, observations, and progress toward initially established goals. Documentation will be used to help the facilitator provide feedback and support for parents and to report on the sessions to the referring agency upon request.

A Sample 2-hour Visit Schedule:

0 – 45 min. Families meet at CMA and explore museum’s unique galleries, hands-on art workshops, and open art spaces
15 min. Brief snack and transition to private family art time
30-45 min. Private engagement and art instruction with facilitator
15 min. Closing activities and reflections

Upon completion of the program, families will receive a certificate of completion and a one-year family membership to CMA so they can continue to spend quality family time together. The facilitator will also provide a detailed final report on the family’s progress to the referring agency.

Visits are available 12-6pm on Wed, 12-7pm on Thursday, and 12-5 on Saturday. Additional times may be available based on request. A family’s visit plan will be determined during the initial planning meeting. For supervised visits, family case workers must be present.

Testimonials:

“[ARTogether] is extremely beneficial and a positive experience not only for the family but the social worker. The work that the therapist did was extensive and while fun, an educational experience for all.”
- SUPERVISING SOCIAL WORKER

“I loved how we had a routine and I stuck to it since that was one of my issues with my son. His behavior changed 100% better in school and I thank the museum and Sarah for that.”
- MOTHER

“I believe my client became more patient and optimistic in dealing with the fact that ACS had removed her child from her care temporarily due to the involvement in the program.”
- REFERRING PARENT ADVOCATE

Support for this program is generously provided by Hedge Funds Care, an organization committed to the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. Support for this program is also provided by the Alexander Maxwell Grant Foundation.

To support this program, consider making a donation.