About Us

76% of elementary students do not have access to art and museum-based learning.

We bring high-quality art and museum-based learning directly to young students with our art museum bus.

It All Started When We Opened Our Doors in 2021

32

SCHOOLS

visited since 2021 across CT

7K

STUDENTS

educated since 2021 across CT

11K

MILES DRIVEN

across CT since 2021

Why Art and Museum Education Matters for Young Students

Prepares students to think critically and creatively to address real-world challenges
Helps students understand and engage with the world around them
Supports exploration of creativity, imagination, and self-expression
Boosts confidence and overall well-being

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Our Mission

To ensure we celebrate the ingenuity and promise of diverse students across our state, we’re creating opportunities for student-artists to learn and grow.

Enrich Young Children’s Creativity

With programming for students in PreK-2, we partner with schools across Connecticut to bring our mobile art museum experience to their students.

Introduction to the art museum environment
Lesson plan based on the unique knowledge, abilities, and needs of the students
Nurturing critical and creative thinking
Meeting students where they are, in their own community

Support Student-Artists

To enrich the art and museum space as a whole, we’re creating opportunities for student-artists to learn and grow.

Our juried art exhibition creates exposure for emerging student-artists
Student Internship Program supports learning about arts nonprofit work
Students build and exercise critical leadership skills as members of our Student Advisory Board
Students' involvement ensures we maintain culturally responsive and sustaining practices

Partner with Local Communities

Through free community events, families and children now have an opportunity to enjoy exciting art and museum adventures.

Children benefit from seeing their adults engage and play alongside them
Families learn tools to engage their children in powerful art and museum experiences
Communities come together for uplifting adventures
Partnerships ensure cARTie is further woven into the fabric of early education and care

We Value Accessibility, Inclusivity, Creativity, and Education

To ensure that all children in Connecticut have equitable access to art and museum education, we are rooted in these values.

Accessibility

When the barriers that limit access to art and museum education are removed, more students have an opportunity to learn.

Inclusivity

All students and communities from diverse backgrounds deserve to have equitable access to art education.

Creativity

We believe in exploration that is centered around dialogue and inspires creativity.

Education

All of our programing is based on the most promising practices for early childhood museum education and museum-based learning.

Founded by a Mother-Daughter Duo, Tish and Clare Murray.

To bridge inequities in art and museum education across the state of Connecticut, the two envisioned a new learning model—one where the museum comes directly to students where they are.

With backgrounds in early childhood and museum education, Tish and Clare brought their experiences together to create what is now an art museum bus, filled with artwork created by diverse groups of students across Connecticut.

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