When budget shortfalls forced the Fullerton School District to make cuts to its arts curriculum nearly 35 years ago, a group of parents took action.
Driven by their heart-felt conviction that arts instruction is as much of a necessity in children’s education as math, science and history, the motivated parents founded the All the Arts for All the Kids Foundation.
Lauralyn Eschner, right, founder and creative director of All the Arts for All the Kids, stands with kids from Morningside Children’s Center as they wait to board their bus after an art session in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The recently opened All the Arts for All the Kids studio also has a small gallery to showcase work in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. The new studio space will offer classes to adults as well as kids. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Angel Ramirez, 7, center, of Morningside Children’s Center, learns to form clay using a pottery wheel with the help of Marsha Judd, left, of All the Arts for All the Kids in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Fischer Liu, 5, right, watches. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Isla McCann, 6, left, works on her clay creation with the help of All the Arts for All the Kids teacher Marsha Judd in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
A clay creation by a young student at All the Arts for All the Kids in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
A class from Morningside Children’s Center work on an art project at the All the Arts for All the Kids studio in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Kellee Wightman, left, executive director of All the Arts for All the Kids, asks kids from Morningside Children’s Center about their art creation experience at All the Arts for All the Kids in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
A young student learns how to work with clay on a pottery wheel with the help of an art teacher at All the Arts for All the Kids in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Fischer Liu, 5, of Morningside Children’s Center, puts some finishing touches on his clay project during an art session at All the Arts for All the Kids in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Lauralyn Eschner, center, founder and creative director of All the Arts for All the Kids, oversees students from Morningside Children’s Center as they work on an art project using clay in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. The foundation recently opened a studio in downtown Fullerton while continuing to offer art instruction in Fullerton schools. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Show Caption1 of 10Lauralyn Eschner, right, founder and creative director of All the Arts for All the Kids, stands with kids from Morningside Children’s Center as they wait to board their bus after an art session in Fullerton on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
ExpandThe foundation has since raised more than $3 million for the Fullerton School District, ensuring every child in the district gets art, music, dance and theater classes.
And now, the nonprofit has taken a huge leap, opening its first brick-and-mortar studio in the heart of downtown Fullerton.
“It has been a longtime dream for us to have a space where the community can come to nurture their creative spirits, and we are incredibly grateful to the many people who have helped us make the dream come true,” Lauralyn Eschner, an All the Arts co-founder and its creative director, said. “Our goal is to help support creative arts experiences for kids of all ages.”
As part of the studio’s recent grand opening celebration, the foundation donated another $30,000 to the Fullerton School District.
Though the studio has only been open for about two months, the creative space buzzes with activity daily, with more than two dozen educators tapping into students’ inner artists in multiple mediums.
The studio has on-going classes and single-day workshops in painting, sculpting digital imaging, music, dance, theater and more.
The studio’s first-ever exhibition, “Creative Sparks,” was on display until just before Christmas, showcasing the works of several local artists.
All the Arts for All the Kids has traditionally served the Fullerton School District, but now, with a functional studio in place, the foundation is expanding to include art instruction for all children and adults.
“We’ve got a space and it’s to nurture creativity,” Eschner said. “Creativity through the arts is one of the best vehicles for creativity, which is really what’s going to solve all the world’s problems. When you think about it, all the world’s inventions were made because of somebody’s creative idea, that then they were able to translate into reality.”
With the new studio in place, the foundation is hoping to collaborate on projects with the Fullerton Museum and the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, said Eschner, a former director of visual and performing arts for the Fullerton School District.
Executive Director Kellee Wightman, also one of the nonprofit’s founders, said the All the Arts Foundation was a godsend for her daughter, who had once been told she wasn’t academically inclined.
“I enrolled her in art class,” Wightman said. “She was doing amazing things.”
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Marsha Judd, also one of the foundation’s founders, teaches a ceramics class at the studio.
Judd, who is an art and child development instructor at Cal State Fullerton, said she enjoys seeing individual creativity blossoming in each of her young students.
“So much in the classrooms is very structured,” Judd said. “These kids have incredible imaginations. And so, to be able to stretch beyond that is very important for me to nurture those young artists.”
Eschner said the ongoing success of the foundation can be credited in large part to Fullerton being a community that is passionate about the arts.
“It really is a huge art community,” Eschner said. “Fullerton is just filled with artists and they are just such good-hearted people. So, we’ve been very fortunate to be able to be one of the lightning rods for that energy, and with such gratitude from us.”
For information, visit allthearts.org, or the All the Arts Foundation Facebook page.
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