COMMUNITY PROJECTS

ART WITH HONORS PROGRAM
Art with Honors is our civic engagement program for instilling values and charity in people’s hearts through interactive artist-to-community collaborative efforts. We survey Kansas City and surrounding areas to assess what is lacking or in need of improvement, then implement an activity based on that need. Art begins with an idea and is carried out by way of expressive community involvement.

Community CART (Contributing Art for Revitalizing Tomorrow)
Community CART is a monthly exhibit series (March-October) where we commission artists to create custom art donations that meet a local charity needs, then host an exhibit, free to the general public during First Fridays in Kansas City. The exhibit features the charity, the artists that created the works, a live art demonstration, and entertainment. The goals of CART are to:

• Promote awareness for a local charity and Parisole Arts’ programming
• Provide art accessibility to inner city residents
• Engage artists to give back to their community in a unique way
• Create opportunities for artists to sell non-donated works (with a portion supporting Parisole’s programming)

CART is held on the first Friday of the month, March through October, from 6-10pm in the Crossroads Art District of Kansas City, MO. Some past recipients include Children’s Mercy, Northeast Kansas City Youth Services, Ronald McDonald House, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Hope House.

In 2011, CART donated over 75 pieces of art to local charities, offered 15 art demonstrations, and provided opportunities for 45 artists.

Read a thank-you letter from Children’s Mercy of Kansas City.

View more images

• Charity Participation Overview
• Artist Application/Agreement PDF or Microsoft Word DOC
• If you would like to provide entertainment, please contact us.

Green Art
Through our Green Art initiative we provide “green” education, entertainment, and activities through art to engage residents, cultivate respect for their community and environment, and/or beautify their surroundings. Some examples of what we offer are listed below. For a full outline of our services, please contact us.

• Projects: community art gardens, art in the park (painting trash receptacles to encourage recycling, dressing up in character for fun neighborhood clean-ups, installing community art), creating murals and signage for local businesses 
• Entertainment: roving artists in costume, circus arts (juggling, fire performing, hula-hooping, balloon art, face painting), musicians, art demonstrations

ACTIVE GREEN ART INITIATIVES:

Join Parisole Arts each year for Green Art Day, a celebration and inspiration for a greener planet. Learn all about being green while planting and decorating container art gardens or painting trash barrels with our artists. Green Art Day is held each April on the Saturday prior to Earth Day. 

Download our Green Art brochure. View event images

Give a Heart

The Give a Heart project encompasses two parts to children creating art. The first is school-based and involves partnering with art teachers (elementary through high school levels). The second part is community-based where we commission artists to work with inner city youth or groups of children. All children utilize medium such as paint, clay, and chalk on surfaces like tiles, canvas, paper mache, or mosaics to create art for children less fortunate. 

Finished pieces are either directly donated to a local charity for children, sold through the children’s school, or sold at the Give a Heart booth during our Community CART exhibit. All proceeds are donated to various local charities to benefit children.

The Historic Northeast Kansas City Partnered with Scarritt Renaissance Neighborhood Assoc Our efforts were pivotal to the success of the 17th annual halloween event held in 2010 which reached approximately 8,000 children. Parisole Arts provided a free circus arts station fully decorated and accompanied by jugglers, fire performers, interactive lighted kids maze, and handmade costumes by Kansas City artists and given to neighborhood children in need. View the promotional flyer. We will partner with Scarritt each Halloween to continue engaging its citizens with art they typically do not have access to.

Downtown Kansas City Partnered with Kansas City Chalk and Walk Festival Each year at Crown Center, Parisole Arts offers art activities to attendees of the Kansas City Chalk and Walk Festival, free of charge. We provide costumed theatrical performers, fire dancers, face painters, and balloonists who roam the festival entertaining. Look for our KidsCRAFT corner stationed in the Crown Center ice rink.

Click Here to View Volunteer Openings