Adopt the Arts Foundation
Adopt The Arts was co-founded in 2010 by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee and Grammy Award-Winning Musician, Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, Deadland Ritual), Activist and Entrepreneur, Abby Berman, and Founding Board Member, Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award-Winning Actor, Jane Lynch, in response to major budget cuts to the arts education budget in LAUSD Elementary schools. To this date, most students in elementary schools are not receiving art and music classes on a consistent basis. ATA officially launched in the fall of 2012 by adopting a Title One elementary school and donating 1000 instruments to LAUSD schools. Adopt The Arts is dedicate to providing art and music classes to K-5th grade students during the school day, raising awareness about the funding for art education across the country, and building partnerships to ensure that all students have a well-rounded education regardless of where they live or go to school.
“Art can save your life. Art is definitely therapy for its creator, but also for its audience because art connects people to their universal humanity. I’m 30 years into my art career and can’t imagine going a day without creating, and that all began as a child luckily for me I’ve always had creative outlets and after some high school negotiations my parents provided me with an even richer art education which I am forever grateful for. To deny elementary school children access to art education is to deny them from developing critical problem solving skills, the ability to express themselves, the ability to collaborate and connect, and so much more. Art enables people, no matter what age, religion, language, or geographic location with a universal understanding of each other and the world around us all.”
-Shepard Fairey, Artist and Adopt The Arts Board Member