Artvan Case Study

Q: What sources of funding are used to support the programs?
A: ArtVan is dependent on funding from foundations and donations to keep the programs at low cost and high quality. Around 80% of the funding comes from foundations, 15% from local businesses, and 5% from individuals. In addition to foundations and donations, ArtVan organizes fundraisers throughout their communities such as ArtBars and Chocolate Bars in the fall/winter/spring, small ongoing fundraisers throughout the year, restaurant fundraisers in the fall, and art walks during the summer. In recent years, ArtVan has received significant donations from the following foundations: Bates Carignan Fund, Baldwin Foundation, Bowdoin College Common Good Grant, City of Biddeford Community
A: ArtVan collaborates with other local businesses, other non-profits and community partners to support community development through the arts. The key partners include The Highlands, Lewiston Housing Authority, McKeen Center for the Common Good, Oliver Place, Sharon Drake Real Estate, Auburn Housing Authority, Brunswick Housing Authority, Center for Wisdom’s Women, CDBG, Computer Software Architects, and Bates College Harward Center.

Q: What are some goals for ArtVan?
A: Jamie said her overall goals include “sustaining relationships and maintaining its values. There’s a lot of non-profits that tend to get too busy or lose sight of their values.” Additionally, she would like to work towards ArtVan being a holistic organization. Other priorities include building for the future through general capacity building and creating financial stability.
(I thought Jamie’s goal of maintaining their values was a wise one. I too have noticed that as programs and agencies develop into something bigger, the focus often drifts away from the values that once acted as a foundation for their programs which in turn can take away from the needs and rights of their
A: “Money and grants unique to our organization is the validation of the type of therapy
Explained that money and grants unique to their organization is a form of validation of the type of therapy they provide, and often times people do not understand how it works as a mobile arts therapy that isn’t in a clinical setting.” Jamie explained that it can be difficult for people to understand the program when they are unfamiliar with expressive arts therapy.
(I can see how this would be a struggle. I have come across many people who did not know that there even was such a thing as expressive arts therapy. It seems to be a somewhat newly recognized form of therapy today; I wonder if it will gain popularity in the coming