Artists Striving To End Poverty was conceived by Mary-Mitchell Campbell who, while volunteering at Mother Teresa's missionary in India, was motivated to effect change in the lives of children in the developing world. After returning to NYC, Mary-Mitchell began work on forming an arts-based non-profit designed specifically to help combat worldwide childhood poverty.
Simultaneously, a *group of enthusiastic Julliard students had formed who, post-9/11, were looking for an effective way to give back to the community using the most significant tool they had -- their art. Mary-Mitchell, then a faculty member at Juilliard, was moved by the group's energy and became their advisory mentor.
Collaboratively, they decided on a goal: to demonstrate the power of the Arts as a universal tool for engendering a greater sense of social understanding and acceptance in spite of any socially-recognized differences.
Lead by now Chief Program Director Mauricio Salgado and Chief Operations Officer Beth Konopka the very first ASTEP initiative occurred in Homestead, Florida and this became the prototype program upon which all of the ASTEP camps are formulated.
ASTEP received its 501c3 status in June of 2006. It was then that the trio recognized that they were working to achieve similar goals and decided to consolidate resources in an effort to formalize and harness what they both had learned to be true: that art has the power to bring people together to communicate an understanding that we share a common humanity.
It is no secret that there exists a significant crisis in arts education today. Children are encountering fewer and fewer chances to build confidence or to learn through self-expression. Although the arts can be a powerful catalyst for empowering young people, arts education is too often neglected.
At the same time, because of the nature of the show business and art industries, many artists' talents remain untapped. Although they might hope to use their skills to contribute to society, many artists feel frustrated in their efforts to do so.
At ASTEP, we strive to connect artists who wish to share their talents with children who can benefit from artistic encounters. The work we do serves as a network, a hub of opportunities for artists to use their gifts to create meaningful change for children.
ASTEP's programs capitalize on these artists talents to help children see themselves in a new way, see the world in a new way, and to help enrich their lives and communities.
These programs take place in areas with populations of children who have limited access to arts education. ASTEP creates safe spaces in which artists can interact with these children. And in these spaces, the children grow, learning to communicate their realities and to develop skills for making positive decisions.
Topics covered range from self-empowerment, creative problem-solving and positive future-building, to HIV/AIDS awareness.
Understanding the need for sustainable change, ASTEP partners with local artists and organizations. To view a full list of our partners, participating artists, sponsors, and contributors see our Supporters page.
*A special thank you to the following people who have been (and still are) integral to building the strong foundation on which ASTEP now stands: Abby Gerdts, Cindy Salgado, James Seol, Jessica Collins, John Egan, Drew Sandbulte, Luke Rinderknecht, Emily Oldak, Sara Fox, Mahira Kakkar, James Liao, Gerald Barrett.
