Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sales
Interested In Holding a Fresh Artists Clothesline Art Sale?
- Fresh Artists wants to give kids everywhere a chance to help fix the critical shortage of art making
in public schools, so we started this philanthropic grassroots program. Proceeds raised in Clothesline Art Sales are used to buy art supplies for under-resourced public schools.
- Below you will find everything you need to run your very own Fresh Artists Cothesline Art Sale.
We've put together some downloads (to the right) to help you get started. Included is Pablo's
Clothesline Art Sale, a short book we wrote to explain Clothesline Art Sales and philanthropy.
Please feel free to download the book and read it over with your children!
- Send us an email (clothesline@freshartists.org) if you have any questions!
Step 01 - Find a TRUSTED GROWNUP to help you
Because you are inviting people to come see your artwork and because money is involved, it is important to ask a Trusted Grown-up to help you run your Clothesline Art Sale. The Trusted Grown-up will make sure everything goes well and that everyone is safe. It is important that this grownup handles the money and helps you with all parts of the sale.
Your Trusted Grown-up can contact Fresh Artists and we can help them over the phone. Fresh Artists will make sure a school in need gets the art supplies bought with the money YOU raise and that the school receiving the gift knows who raised the money, YOU!
Step 02 - Decide WHO will hold the sale
It's a great project for teens to do with younger kids. It could be an Eagle Scout, a mitzvah project,
or a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service project.
You in your own backyard, alone, or with a group of pals
A birthday party activity
Part of a neighborhood garage sale
Your scout troop or faith-based organization
Your camp or after-school program
Your class or your whole school
Step 03 - Decide WHERE to Hold the sale
You can have it outdoors on a real clothesline or inside a house, a school, a church or a synagogue, a community meeting place, or even a community fair. Make sure your date and place are approved by everyone involved.
If you decide to have it outdoors, make sure you have a plan if it rains. Maybe a rain date, or moving it inside? Just make a plan. That way you are prepared. Art doesn't like to get wet!
Step 04 - Decide HOW You Will Make Your Art
Will you save up your artwork made in school or camp for several weeks or months or will you make art just for your sale? You might want to think about using really bright colors and filling the whole page with your drawings and paintings…almost out to the edges. Your artwork will look terrific and people will admire the way it brightens up their room when they take it home. There are some art making tips at the end of this booklet for you to try out!
Step 05 - Spread the Word!
The more people who come to your sale, the more money you can raise to help other children. Spend some time planning how to spread the word about your sale. Make a flyer! Make lots of copies of the flyer. Get the flyer out and up on bulletin boards at least 3 weeks before your sale. Be creative in getting the word out in person or through the internet, with the help of your Trusted Grown-up on places like Facebook & Twitter.
Sometimes a grown-up can contact your local newspaper and they might send a reporter or photographer
to interview you. This can really help get the word out, and bring more people to your sale. Make sure any information about your sale tells people:
The place you are holding the sale, the date, & the times
That you are raising money to send art supplies to severely under-resourced public schools.
Step 06 - GET STUFF TOGETHER to hold your sale!
You will need:
Long lengths of plain old clothesline
Small metal binder-clips. You need 2 to hang each piece of art. (Clothespins work too, but are not as strong.)
A cash box with a lid (cigar box, shoebox, or metal cash box) with some starter change in it. Have your Trusted Grown-up put some single dollar bills into it so you can make change for people.
A sign that tells you are helping to support Fresh Artists (a nonprofit organization that gives art supplies to public schools in need) so everyone knows what you are helping.
A table and comfy chair for the person taking the money.
Step 07 - GET YOUR CREW TOGETHER and Get Organized!
Decide who will help you and make sure they know you are counting on their help on the day of your Clothesline Art Sale. Give them a date & time reminder written on paper so they can put the sale on their calendar at home. Tell them what job you want them to do: help set up, sell art, help clean up, etc. If you are holding the sale all day you will need helpers to come in shifts of a few hours at a time.
It's best to have lots of people help you on the day of your sale. It's safer for you, and more fun, too. Extra people can help tell your visitors about the artwork, and how you are raising money to help other children. When everyone who comes to your sale knows what the money is going, they will be much more generous and buy more art. That means more art supplies for kids who need them!
Step 08 - HANG YOUR ARTWORK
We suggest that you ask people to make a donation for a piece of art, rather than putting a price on it. Decide on a minimum donation level. Asking for a donation will result in people giving you MORE money than putting a price tag on it. This is a good idea especially when several children are donating their art… so one child's artwork isn't priced more than another's. Feelings are very important. The sale is about everyone feeling good about being generous… NOT about a competition of how much money each child raises!
Step 09 - DURING YOUR ART SALE…
A Clothesline Art Sale is a way to give other people a chance to see your wonderful art. Sometimes people
come just to look, and that's fine. Don't be disappointed if there is still art left at the end of the sale. You can
have a plan to donate any un-sold art to a local nursing home or a place where people really love seeing young children's beautiful artwork.
Make sure to tell people that you are raising money to deliver art supplies to children
in a public school that really needs them.
Tell them about your artwork, & why art making is important to you.
Make sure to thank them for coming, even if they don't take home any of the beautiful art,
it will make them happy that they came!
Make sure to thank everyone a lot!
Step 10 - When your SALE IS OVER…
Clean up! Make sure to leave the place tidier than you found it.
Be sure to thank every person who helped you.
Count the money you raised immediately after the sale is over.
Do this with your Trusted Grown-up.
Give the money to your Trusted Grown-up to keep it safe.
Send us an email clothesline@freshartists.org about your Clothesline Art Sale while everything is fresh in your mind. It is easy to forget how many kids donated their artwork, how much $$$ you raised, and how many people helped you. We want to know all about your sale and all the good ideas that you had so we can share them with other kids…
Be sure to take lots of photos of your sale & email them to us!
Step 11 - Sending your donation to Fresh Artists
When you are all finished with your sale, send the money you raised to Fresh Artists
in a check or money order, made out to Fresh Artists to:
Fresh Artists
Attn: Clothesline Art Sales
Post Office Box 44
Lafayette Hill, PA 19444
Be sure to list your name, your group's name, or all the children's names who participated in the sale. You will receive a thank-you letter with a Certificate of Extraordinary Generosity! Your name, or the name of your group, will be put on a box of art supplies and delivered to a public school in great need of help.
Step 12 - Fresh Artists delivers the Art Supplies
The funds you raise will be used to buy art supplies for severely under-resourced, K-12 public schools struggling to deliver a quality art education to their children. Your name will be listed as a donor on a box of art supplies delivered by Fresh Artist's during the same year. Your name will also appear in a special place on our website. Fresh Artists will choose a school in need from the hundreds of schools that we know about and work with.
Fresh Artists will buy art supplies at a big discount and deliver them directly to a public school that really needs them, along with the name of your Clothesline Art Sale. Other kids will know that you have done something special to help them. If you know of a K-12 public school in desperate need, please tell us and we may be able
to add that school to our list. We will need the name, address, phone number, and name of a contact person
at the school so we can call them. Fresh Artists has delivered tens of thousands of dollars in quality art supplies to public schools in need!
