- History
- In February 2001,
a small group of concerned artists and victim rights advocates based in Austin, TX, met to reflect on
existing racial and ethnic disparities within the victim service field, and the historical predominance
of art as a vehicle for expression, education, and healing. After several deliberations, an organization
was formed under the name Arte Sana (art heals) and the preliminary steps towards developing a
nonprofit were set into motion.
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Under
the leadership of the organization's co-founders, Laura Zárate
and
Oralia Díaz
, the group began to proactively promote the
link between art and healing with the intent of focusing on predominately underserved
populations. By providing services to improve the quality of life of survivors of gender
and racial-based violence, Arte Sana hoped to not only heal current wounds, but prevent
new ones as well. By year's end, more than 6,000 visitors had visited the group's
website and numerous trainings around the United States and México had taken
place.
In 2002
Arte Sana's collaborations and outreach increased significantly via the award of grant funding
and the first art exhibit for sexual abuse survivors went international. In 2003 the
consolidation of Arte Sana's work and various collaborations would yield
national
recognition.
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- Furthermore, Arte Sana’s
internationally recognized website serves as an
Internet resource-sharing platform for Spanish-speaking communities and offers a growing collection of
bilingual information on sexual assault and
intimate partner violence issues as well as activist survivor
art.
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- Our efforts
-
Arte Sana currently promotes healing
and empowerment through the arts, professional training, and community education. Our
direct experience has
confirmed that Latinas/os are less likely to report sexual assault due to the obstacles in
obtaining victim services such as language barriers, cultural factors, and a fear of
deportation. Given this sad reality, we at Arte Sana
believe that violence risk reduction program and service effectiveness depends on
cultural and linguistic competency as well as ongoing collaborations sin fronteras
(without borders).
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In its four years of existence,
Arte Sana has reached over 4,000 persons, 53% of whom were victim advocates, promotoras,
and allied professionals from the Texas-Mexico border. Due to the demand, over 69% of these
were reached without formal funding, but rather through extensive collaborations with
community-based organizations. Most notably, 33% of the persons served received
presentations in Spanish.
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By providing
services to improve the quality of life of survivors
of gender violence and racism, we strive to prevent violence in our communities. Arte Sana
believes in the intrinsic healing power of art and culture. We believe that violence risk
reduction programs and services must be culturally competent and linguistically appropriate.
Arte Sana is committed to the value of indigenous leadership and collaboration sin fronteras
(without borders).
How you can help
- Ar
te Sana is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
supported by individual donors and government grants. Donations to this agency are tax deductible.
Read here to find out
why you should give to Arte Sana.
You may donate online
or if you would prefer to pay by check, please send your tax deductible donation payable to Arte Sana to:
- PO Box 1334
- Dripping Springs, TX 78620
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Volunteer opportunities are also
available.
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