Engaging in the arts can be a pathway to discovering identity and purpose; it provides a sense of belonging and direction, allowing young people to explore who they are and what they're passionate about. High quality arts education is not just about creating artists but about nurturing well-rounded individuals equipped with skills and perspectives crucial for personal growth, empathy, and success in life.

Your purchase of this design will support arts programming in our Collaborative Arts Residency programs that enable deeper learning, shared experiences, self-exploration, ownership of actions, and improved academic outcomes for NYC public school students.

In addition, our work continues to upskill 60 artists annually through our Teaching Artist Project, a comprehensive training and internship program for working artists who desire to incorporate social justice and social-emotional learning into their teaching practice.

Help us meet the challenges of New York City Department of Education budget cuts that exacerbate educational inequities and threaten arts-integrated learning spaces.

For more information on Community-Word Project, visit our website http://communitywordproject.org

About Samantha Dion Baker

I am originally from Philadelphia, where I grew up in a family of artists. Throughout childhood, I would spend afternoons drawing in my grandmother?s sculpture studio, and I would watch my mother make intricate illustrations on her drafting table at home. I attended The Cooper Union in New York City, where I studied everything from design to printmaking, having a desire to learn and experiment with as much as possible before settling on a design career. I then spent over twenty years working as a graphic designer in Toronto and New York City, with a strong focus in the art world. In my early forties, I began to draw again, and through a regular sketchbook practice, I transitioned from designer to artist. Now a full-time illustrator, artist, and author, my favorite thing to do is wander the city streets and travel with my family, drawing all of the things I do, eat, and see in the pages of my sketch journal. I live and work in Brooklyn with my husband and two sons.

To inquire about buying original artwork (paintings and leaves), private commissions, private lessons, workshops, or any other inquiries please contact me directly at [email protected]

To see my latest work and daily sketch journals head on over to my Instagram @sdionbakerdesign