I have spent most of my life working with children and nurturing connections to artistic, creative endeavors. In my work and life, I saw that – in the Boston area – there was no community-based, multi-generational arts program that reached out to children and families of all abilities and was free of charge. So I decided to create one.
Families Creating Together was born in 2008. The response from the community has been enthusiastic. One special needs advocate pointed out that prior to inception of our program there was a serious lack of creative outlets for children with disabilities and their families. She saw FCT as filling that gap. We received the Good Neighbor Award from Arts/Learning in 2013 and have been nominated for a Massachusetts Cultural Council Community Award for our program accessibility efforts.
FCT provides creative, inspirational, multi-generational workshops for children with and without disabilities. Experienced arts educators develop these workshops which are led by skilled teaching artists accompanied by Spanish and American Sign Language
translators.
This past year, FCT provided a spring “Puppet-Making” workshop series where children created puppets using recycled materials and learned about puppetry, the theater and how to preserve the environment. Our summer workshops explored “Magical Environments” with children creating works of art reflecting magical journeys under the sea, on islands and in gardens. This fall we provided cultural excursions to the Museum of Science, Wheelock Family Theater and the Museum of Fine Arts. All workshops and activities are free of charge.
Families Creating Together welcomes your support as we move forward, continuing to provide supportive, creative experiences to meet the needs of children with disabilities and their extended families and reaching out to all families who might enjoy and benefit from our program. Please contact us to share ideas and experiences and to discuss how you might become part of the FCT family!
Best wishes,
Edward Pazzanese
Founder