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PROGRAM · YEAR-ROUND

Urban Arts Academy

Creative & Entrepreneurial Education

Creative and entrepreneurial education for Valley youth, building skills, confidence, and pathways out of poverty.

Illustration of diverse hands united, representing community collaboration and creative empowerment
About the program

Urban Arts Academy is Guarded Hope's youth-focused education and empowerment program, serving young people whose families are experiencing homelessness, housing instability, or economic hardship in the Phoenix metro. The program uses creative arts, design thinking, and entrepreneurship as the vehicle for skill development, combining technical instruction with mentorship, business basics, and social-emotional learning.

The program is grounded in the belief that creative confidence and entrepreneurial thinking are protective factors against poverty, and that young people growing up in crisis deserve access to the same enrichment programming available to their housed peers.

TARGET POPULATION

Youth aged 10–24 from families experiencing homelessness, housing instability, or economic hardship. Program is free; no documentation required. Siblings and household members actively welcomed.

GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE

Phoenix-based programming with outreach to families identified through street outreach and partner organizations.

EVIDENCE OF NEED

Arts integration programs show significant reductions in school dropout risk for youth experiencing homelessness (National Endowment for the Arts, 2021). Entrepreneurship education correlates with higher economic mobility in low-income youth cohorts (Kauffman Foundation, 2022).

Service Model

How we deliver it.

1
Creative Skills Tracks
Instruction in visual arts, digital design, music production, photography, and creative writing, delivered in workshop format by volunteer teaching artists.
2
Entrepreneurship Track
Participants learn business fundamentals: how to price work, build a portfolio, market themselves, and manage simple finances.
3
Mentorship
Each participant connected with a working creative professional for career guidance and portfolio review.
4
Showcase Events
Quarterly community showcases where participants present work publicly and connect with potential employers, collaborators, or further educational opportunities.
5
Resource Connection
Participants and families connected to school enrollment support, free supplies, and academic tutoring as needed.
VOLUNTEER

Teaching artists, business mentors, and event support volunteers welcome. Creative professionals in any discipline encouraged to apply.

Apply to volunteer
Get Involved

Help us keep Urban Arts Academy running.

Every dollar and every hour goes straight to the field. 100% volunteer-run.

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