The High Museum’s Art Access Program has welcomed more than 100,000 students

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has now welcomed more than 100,000 student participants as part of its Art Access program. The program, which started in 2004, provides metro Atlanta students with greater access to the arts by offering free museum visits to a limited number of students in all grade levels.

The field trip program includes free admission for students and chaperones, payment of school bus transportation, free teacher resources and “Welcome Back” cards that allow participating students to return to the museum with their families one time, free of charge.

The Art Access program was created in 2004 to remove economic barriers to visiting the High Museum for 15,000 public school students each year. The application program concentrates on high-risk schools, districts where arts education funding has been cut most dramatically and districts where there is persistent underfunding of arts education. Art Access is open to public schools in all grade levels in the 10-county metro Atlanta area.

The Kendeda Fund provides operating support for the program as well as funding for an endowment challenge grant that seeks to make Art Access a permanent program at the museum.

“The High has had the privilege and ability to significantly enrich the educational experiences of thousands of Atlanta children by providing a foundation for life-long learning and enjoyment of the visual arts through Art Access. With the help of great donors who believe in the value of art education, the High has dramatically increased the number of students afforded this opportunity. We look forward to continued support and our next 100,000 students,” said Patricia Rodewald, the High Museum’s Eleanor McDonald Storza Director of Education.