CITYarts engages youth with professional artists in the creation of public art, including murals and mosaics. Through this creative process, CITYarts empowers, educates, and connects youth and children locally and around the world to become active participants in realizing their potential and transforming communities.
CITYarts, Inc. is a nonprofit public arts and education organization founded in 1989 by Executive and Creative Director Tsipi Ben-Haim. With a mission to empower youth to transform communities, Tsipi Ben-Haim wanted the voices of our youth to be heard. She created 5 different programs that bring together children and youth with professional artists to create public art in New York City and beyond.
The goal at CITYarts is to hear the voices of our children and youth. We can ignite their curiosities and imaginations to keep peace alive in their lives and for all of us around the world. We want to build bridges of cultural understanding by bringing youth from around the globe into contact and dialogue with each other and with society as a whole through the creation of artwork with youth from around the world. With every CITYarts project, we are planting the seeds for much-needed creative and caring young leadership.
To date, CITYarts has created and produced over 350 projects that have transformed communities and impacted over 100,000 kids, collaborated with more than 600 artists, partnered with over 1,500 sponsors, and engaged over 200,000 volunteers. CITYarts is widely credited as the pioneering force in the creation of the contemporary community mural movement in New York City. Because of CITYarts’ 35-year history of engaging youth in beautifying their own neighborhoods, Tsipi Ben-Haim can state without reservation - "when kids create, they do not destroy; they inspire us all"
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