New children’s art nonprofit wins $10,000 from QEDC

Hannah Lokken (left) and Ashley Cavadas (right) created Art Strong to help fill a gap in art education. Photo courtesy of QEDC.

By Victoria Merlino

Art Strong NYC, a startup children’s art education organization, won a $10,000 grant from the Queens Economic Development Corporation after participating in the Startup! Business Plan Competition.

“We want every child to walk away excited about what they have just created, and we love seeing their smiling faces when they run over to share their artwork with a parent,” Art Strong co-founder Ashley Cavadas said in a statement.

Created by Cavadas and Hannah Lokken, Art Strong offers classes for children, summer camps and parties to further children’s artistic ability and understanding of painting, collage, sculpture, drawing and more. Cavadas and Lokken met at Teachers College, Columbia University while pursuing master’s degrees, and after teaching art in New York City, realized there was a potential to expand arts education around the city.

“Art Strong was founded based on a shared love of the arts, process based art making, and getting messy!” according to its website.

Currently, Art Strong is partnering with local groups to bring more art education to Long Island City.