Raw Art Works

RAW Ignites the Desire to Create and the Confidence to Succeed in Underserved Youth. We are a nonprofit youth arts organization founded in 1988. For the past 20 years, our staff of arts therapists has taken art into the streets, public housing, youth incarceration facilities, clinics, soup kitchens, schools and homes, as well as offering programming in our studio in downtown Lynn. RAW provides innovative ways for young people to engage in art-making that can and does transform their lives. In our experience, it's often easier to paint your feelings on a canvas than to express them through words. Through untraditional art concepts, RAW gives children and teens the opportunity to express "what's really goin' on" in their lives. After kids render their emotions and experiences in color, it's often easier to put what they're feeling into words. When those young artists enter RAW Space, our studio in downtown Lynn, they step over a huge sign on the floor that says, "NO MISTAKES--JUST ART." At RAW, every child is given the tools to succeed--both in art and in life.