Mitzvah Projects

About ArtWorks, The Naomi Cohain Foundation:

Our Mission:
Founded in 2002, ArtWorks, The Naomi Cohain Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to improving the healthcare experience of pediatric patients through the arts. ArtWorks provides children and young adults facing chronic and life-limiting illnesses, and their families, access to creative and performing arts programs that serve as a vehicle for healing, communication, self-expression and personal development.

Programs:
The Teaching Artists Program invites Teaching Artists into the hospital setting to offer multi-disciplinary art workshops and one-on-one sessions for pediatric patients facing chronic and life-limiting illnesses. The experience is stimulating and empowering as our participants learn and engage in new ways of expressing themselves such as beat-boxing, creative writing, photography, percussion, and animation.
Serving more than 2,000 patients and their families, the Teaching Artists Program is expanding rapidly and welcoming new artists of a wide range of disciplines every year.

Surprise!Supplies Program provides art supplies and craft kits to our Young Artists in the hospital setting so that they may have the necessary tools to fully express themselves. The Surprise!Supplies program is made available through a mobile ARTWORKS ART CART! The Art Cart brings art supplies to children with limited mobility and those who cannot leave their beds. The supplies are available to both pediatric patients as well as their siblings, allowing families to collaborate and communicate in a manner that removes them from the solemn setting of the hospital, and gives the children a chance to play together—an opportunity that is often lacking when a sibling is admitted into a hospital. ArtWorks currently has 32 art carts in 27 hospitals distributing more than 20,000 supplies, with more to launch!

Express Yourself is a visual and performing arts exhibition in New York and New Jersey inviting our Young Artists to take part in a program of awe-inspiring performances and a gallery exhibition! By working with ArtWorks Teaching Artists as well as other recreational therapists, our participants prepare months in advance for this celebratory day.
Express Yourself includes art pieces, performances, and showcases our Young Artists each year!