Arts and crafts retailer to raise funds for art supplies in underprivileged schools through clothesline art sale fundraiser
BERLIN, N.J., May 11, 2015 — (PRNewswire) — Dedicated to crafting a better world, A.C. Moore today announced the launch of its partnership with Fresh Artists, an innovative nonprofit organization that engages children as full partners in philanthropy towards keeping art education in public schools. May 16-24, A.C. Moore will host its first-ever Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sale across its 135 locations, where customers are invited to view artwork made and donated by local students to raise funds for art supplies in severely underprivileged schools. Shoppers will have the opportunity to donate $1 to Fresh Artists at checkout and select a piece of artwork from the clothesline as a gift for their support. In addition, A.C. Moore will match all customer donations, dollar for dollar.
"Fresh Artists is honored to partner with A.C. Moore to support art in our public schools," said Barbara Allen, executive director and founder of Fresh Artists. "Working with such a fine, generous company to make sure that all children have a quality art education means the world to us."
With public schools throughout the country facing severe budget cuts that minimize or eliminate art programs, Fresh Artists offers a unique solution by inviting children to donate the use of their art to fund the purchase of art supplies and innovative art programming for their peers.
Employing Fresh Artists' unique model of social entrepreneurship, A.C. Moore invites children to play an active role in helping fund art education. On May 16, A.C. Moore will kick off its fundraising campaign with a special "Make & Give" event, where children will create artwork to make, exhibit and donate to the Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sale. Children will select a famous art masterpiece to reimagine into their own "Mini Masterpiece" using Cray-Pas® oil pastels donated by Sakura of America.
"We are very proud to launch our support of Fresh Artists with such a meaningful campaign that embodies our shared passion for empowering young lives through art," said Pepe Piperno, owner of A.C. Moore. "The Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sale is an incredible opportunity to showcase the artwork of talented youth and celebrate their impact as true change-makers in our communities."
This partnership takes place within the 5th year of A.C. Moore's "Crafting a Better World" initiative, which includes partnerships with the American Cancer Society and Easter Seals. Since its launch in 2010, the program has focused on helping local neighborhoods, raising more than $1 million for not-for-profit organizations that support the communities in which A.C. Moore stores operate.
For more information on "Crafting a Better World" and A.C. Moore, visit www.acmoore.com
About A.C. Moore
Create more. Share more. Save more. ™ A.C. Moore is a specialty retailer offering a vast selection of arts, crafts and floral merchandise to a broad demographic of customers. The first A.C. Moore store opened in Moorestown, New Jersey in 1985, and has expanded to more than 140 stores. Stores are located in the Eastern United States from Maine to Florida.
A.C. Moore is devoted to being the first choice for product selection, value and service that inspires and fulfills unlimited creative possibilities. The assortment, convenience, service and pricing differentiate them from their competitors. The assortment of merchandise consists of more than 60,000 stock keeping units, or SKUs, with approximately 40,000 SKUs offered at each store at any one time. They also offer custom framing in the majority of their stores. In-store events and programs for children and adults provide hands-on arts and crafts experience and encourage the creativity of customers.
For more information about A.C. Moore, visit http://www.acmoore.com/about.
About Fresh Artists
Founded in 2008, Fresh Artists is a national award-winning nonprofit that empowers young lives through art by engaging vulnerable children as full partners in philanthropy, by widely exhibiting children's artwork in highly visible and unexpected places, and by providing art supplies and innovative art programs to severely under-resourced public schools. Fresh Artists invites K-12 artists to donate high-resolution images of selected artwork, and then provides corporate or individual donors with thank-you gifts of high-quality digital reproductions of that art in exchange for financial contributions. The talent and generosity of 1000 public school children throughout the country has delivered the value of more than $557,000 in art supplies and innovative art programming to public schools. Fresh Artists' Print Studio provides large-format printing for under-resourced nonprofits while introducing disadvantaged teens to marketable job skills and potential careers in the creative economy. Reproductions of children's artwork have been installed in corporate facilities throughout the country from Washington, DC, to Oregon including SAP, Yahoo, Comcast, Independence Blue Cross, Harvard School of Education, World Café Live, Yale University Children's Hospital, Drexel University, and the world-famous Philadelphia Flower Show. The children's art has been installed in 35 homeless and emergency shelters, soup kitchens and child abuse clinics with healing, hopeful children's art. The Fresh Artists Memory Games, educational, intergenerational games showcasing children's art, received the Oppenheim Gold Award for Best Toy of the Year and were chosen by Oprah to be featured in "O" Magazine. For more information, visit www.freshartists.org.
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