Good art supplies are not cheap! Anyone, but especially kids and teens, can think they can't get into "serious" art or try a new medium because it is hard to get a complete set of decent starter supplies and tools. Even "essentials" kits from manufacturers usually don't provide materials to practice on, like proper specialty paper or canvas.

Kids and teens are discerning, and can tell when they are having to "fight" an art supply or tool. This frustrating experience often happens with budget supplies, which are typically full of fillers or are otherwise poorly made. Unfortunately, youths may walk away from these moments thinking they are "bad at art," not that the material itself is being overly difficult, which unnecessarily kills a lot of creative curiosity early in life.

Adults who have never considered themself creative, or are "formerly creative," are sometimes nervous about trying new things too! It can feel overwhelming to know that you don't know something (yet), or to feel "behind" when seeing artists your age and younger accomplishing things.

Art students at all levels of education typically have to buy their own supplies, meaning a lot of kids in middle and high school won't go into the arts because they can't afford good materials.

As a formerly gifted kid who drew all the time, an art student who was shocked at the separate price tag for the required art materials for a class I was already paying to attend, and as an adult who is presently reaffirming my own creative pursuits, I have experienced all of the above scenarios myself. In my journey to reconnect with my artistic self expression, I noticed my friends vocalize a lot of common fears and frustrations with pursuing art. For example: it's legitimately intimidating to see a wall of finished, seemingly perfect art on your social media content feed. It's worrisome to see young artists feel pressured to create content on a rigid schedule. It is distressing, particularly as an adult who has already been sold the "young genius" narrative, to feel your drawing is never good enough and that you are running out of time to get good enough. It is damaging to creativity to believe you have to share your art publicly to have it be worth making at all.

By providing good supplies, public instruction, and my own unbridled enthusiasm for free, I am removing barriers and replacing them with incentives to the would-be creatives in Sacramento. By our powers combined, we can ignite artistic curiosity and passion, and it will ripple back out into community spaces in numerous and transformative ways.