Art in the Garden, OMA Center for Mind, Body, and Spirit, 2022

Art in the Garden's programming focuses on addressing impacts of early childhood adversity and trauma on health and learning. At least half of the spots in our programming are always reserved for students from low-income families and/or who identify as a person of color, immigrant, or refugee. The funds we raise go directly to ensuring programming for these students. 

Art in the Garden is a program that:

• Features workshops with community partners that empower youth to see themselves as creators of positive change, so that they may live their fullest expression of themselves
• Trains teachers, staff, and community members in trauma informed care, which crucially includes anti-racist & restorative justice training and training in supporting trans and gender-diverse students
• Gives youth tools to reduce stress, and empowers youth confidence, compassion, and civic engagement
• Addresses economic justice by using a sliding scale fee, prioritizing enrollment for underserved families 
• Provides free breakfast and lunch through a partnership with Earthen Vessels 
• Seeks to address racism, injustice, and bias at all levels of our programming, from hiring, to camp fees, to curriculum, to personal accountability and growth
• Supports youth in exploring connections between physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being and the environment and engaging local solutions-based approaches to address environmental racism, food apartheid, and the climate crisis

Art in the Garden is a program of OMA Center for Mind, Body and Spirit and Borland Garden.

Art in the Garden's programming is made possible by donors like you. Your donation goes directly to:

• Providing underserved youth much-needed access to programming that seek to address impacts of early childhood adversity and trauma on health and learning. Your donation goes directly toward camper scholarships.   
• Providing programming that is intentionally trauma-informed, anti-racist, LGBTQA+ welcoming, culturally responsive, liberatory, and joy-centered. 
• Funding trauma-informed trainings for teachers, volunteers, families, and the wider community, which crucially includes anti-racist and restorative justice trainings. This work is central to dismantling unjust systems, helping youth feel safe and valued, and building communities based on love, solidarity, and joy. 
• Giving youth opportunities to experience themselves as agents of positive change. Art in the Garden supports each youth’s ability to thrive and live their fullest expressions of themselves. 

Talented teaching artists and ecologists provide unique experiences for youth and families at Art in the Garden. Teaching artists and ecologists empower youth and build confidence, giving youth opportunities to experience themselves as agents of positive change. Returning partners include: Sankofa Village of the Arts, Pittsburgh Forest Garden, SOAR Coaching Academy, Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Pittsburgh, and Earthen Vessels, a group that provides free breakfasts and lunches to campers. We're thrilled to announce our newest partners: The Mural Art Project, led by Max “Gems” Gonzalez, Shane Pilster, and Jerome "Chu" Charles, in collaboration with Rivers of Steel and HCUAP, teaches graffiti and mural arts skills while building community and empowering youth to challenge barriers and give voice to their dreams. Youth have opportunities to create lasting murals that foster love and solidarity and justice. Pittsburgh Glass Center teaches campers the beauty, versatility, and art of glass; campers have opportunities to make collaborative glass murals and pieces to share with their families. 

We believe in systems powered by love and justice.

We believe it is morally imperative to prevent early childhood adversity.

We believe that when we grow in connectedness to ourselves, each other, and the earth, we are able to create healthier communities.

We believe mindfulness practices have the power to help youth as they work to reframe untrue and distorted or limiting beliefs and that this can create space for the positive transformation of self, family, and community. 

We believe that all people deserve access to healthy food.

We believe all people have a right to easily access and enjoy green space.

We believe in an environmental ethic that sequester carbon, creates wildlife habitat, and increases biodiversity for the benefit of all beings.

We believe in the transformative power and healing potential of art and nature.