Art Resources in Teaching (A.R.T.) is Chicago's oldest and largest educational organization dedicated to providing vibrant visual arts programs to elementary school children, teachers, and parents.
In many Chicago elementary schools, children receive literally NO arts instruction. A.R.T. programs help meet the need by providing teaching artists in underserved classrooms throughout the city, in neighborhoods such as Englewood, Calumet Heights, Little Village, Pilsen, Lawndale, Humboldt Park, Austin, and Bronzeville.
Originally named “The Chicago Public School Art Society”, A.R.T. was established as a Hull-House project in 1894 by co-founders Ellen Gates Starr and Jane Addams. In the early years, members of the Chicago Public School Art Society exposed students to reproductions of the great masters and advocated for arts education. Ms. Starr and Ms. Addams and their compatriots believed that all children, and especially those from low-income families, deserved access to art and culture.
Over the years, we have expanded upon that vision. Today A.R.T. is an innovator in exploring new ways to introduce the visual arts into the lives of students and teachers, including the development of new links between technology and the arts. We pioneer model programs that integrate the arts into instruction in other core academic subjects such as language arts, math, science and social studies. In the process, we meet the needs of students as well as school administrators.
