Our Programs

Thousands of foster and at-risk youth in Oregon and California lack access to opportunities in creative self-expression such as art, music and dance. Color Outside the Lines aims to offer foster children an integrative experience with creative opportunities and caring mentors, in a nurturing and inspiring environment.

We work with the Department of Human Services foster care program (DHS) to connect with foster children and families to serve our state's most vulnerable youth. We also serve the youth involved with Friends of the Children, (http://www.friendsofthechildren.org/), CASA (www.casaforchildren.org/), and the Native American Youth Association (to name a few) to offer the at-risk youth that those wonderful organizations serve free art and creatively geared classes and opportunities.

Our programs include regular art classes with underserved youth that offer an array of creative platforms. These include, but are not limited to painting, a variety of arts and crafts, sculpture, dance, music, movement, mindfulness, theater, outdoor adventures, and learning about creative professions first hand from artists themselves. 

One of our primary initiatives revolve around public art mural collaborations. These projects entail producing an event by selecting an artist to design an innercity mural, and then having the youth we serve collaborate in creating the mural alongside the artist(s). These projects not only beautify public spaces, but give youth an opportunity to care for their communities while building self esteem by helping to create something colorful for the city to enjoy as a whole. 

Color Outside the Lines staff and team is comprised of a director, development director, three trained art therapists and teachers, and a six person Board of Directors. Along side our staff, many wonderful community contributors and volunteers have been working with us, many for the past five years. The team of people behind COLT is devoted to creating a program that gives more meaning and color to the lives of hundreds of children in Portland and the Bay Area.