When the student artist that created the piece above began with the Juniper Arts program, no one could have predicted the tumultuous journey that lay ahead. Over the next twelve months, they experienced at least four different placements — a heartbreaking pattern all too common in our community.
In Sedgwick County, children in care experience an average of eight placements in just 1,000 days, compared to the national average of five. But for 75% of this student's transitions, Juniper Arts was there — providing consistency, creativity, and connection when everything else kept changing.
At first, the student was guarded, quiet, and unsure who to trust. But week by week, through artmaking and encouragement, we watched them begin to transform. They stepped into leadership, built friendships, and started imagining a future that included college — not just as a dream, but as a real possibility.
Their final artwork, a mixed media portrait collage, tells the story beautifully. The eyes are missing, a quiet symbol of how hard it can be to let ourselves be truly seen. And yet the piece is filled with bold hearts, radiating love — the love they began to feel within themselves and all around them.
They left our program connected, confident, and full of hope.
This is what your support makes possible. When art, trust, and belonging meet a young person right where they are, incredible growth can take root — no matter the circumstances. Thank you for walking with them.
