Painter Pals

About the Organization

Organization category

Public Charity

Country / State

United States / California

Mission

To help young people feel seen, heard, and valued through trauma-informed arts education and social-emotional learning experiences that foster creative expression, emotional well-being, confidence, and connection.

Programs or services

SIBSIM is designed for replication across schools, after-school programs, hospitals, and youth-serving community organizations. Its core components include a sequenced 20-session curriculum, trauma-informed facilitation practices, MTSS Tier 1 alignment, explicit SEL competencies, standardized art materials, student reflection tools, facilitator training, implementation-fidelity procedures, and pre- and post-program evaluation.

Replication will occur through a structured implementation package containing:

• Facilitator guides and lesson plans.
• Student worksheets and reflection materials.
• Art-material specifications.
• Training modules and demonstration resources.
• Trauma-informed and culturally responsive facilitation standards.
• Fidelity checklists and implementation logs.
• Student and teacher measurement tools.
• Family and school communication templates.
• Data-collection and reporting guidance.

Painter Pals will use findings from the proposed project to identify which components must remain consistent and which may be adapted for age, language, culture, school schedule, or community context. Feedback from students, teachers, facilitators, school leaders, and the evaluation partner will inform annual curriculum revisions.

Scaling will initially prioritize Washington and California, followed by expansion through trained instructors, school partnerships, licensing or implementation agreements, and train-the-trainer models. Replication decisions will be based on program quality and documented outcomes rather than reach alone.

Detailed programs

Painter Pals’ key program structure

Sound in Body, Sound in Mind (SIBSIM) is Painter Pals’ flagship school-based program. It delivers trauma-informed arts education and social-emotional learning to students in Pre-K through 8th grade, particularly in Title I and under-resourced schools. Through structured artmaking, reflection, emotional literacy, mindfulness, and relationship-building, SIBSIM helps students strengthen self-awareness, self-regulation, communication, confidence, peer relationships, and belonging. It is designed as an MTSS Tier 1 universal support, meaning entire classrooms can participate without students needing a diagnosis or referral.

Rooted in Resilience (RIR) is Painter Pals’ community and summer youth development program. RIR combines art, SEL, agriculture, environmental learning, and hands-on exploration to help young people understand resilience in both personal and community contexts. Students engage in activities related to food systems, gardening, sustainability, identity, emotional well-being, and community connection. The program is especially well suited for urban farms, community gardens, summer programs, and neighborhood-based partnerships.

Sanctuary Studio is Painter Pals’ healthcare-based creative wellness initiative. It brings accessible, trauma-informed creative experiences to children in pediatric and medical settings through bedside art kits, guided activities, and potentially dedicated creative or sensory environments. Sanctuary Studio is designed to support emotional expression, choice, comfort, distraction, and a sense of normalcy for children navigating stressful healthcare experiences.

Then I would explain that Painter Pals has two important systems that support all three programs:

Teachers Lounge Online (TLO) is Painter Pals’ digital training and curriculum infrastructure. Rather than presenting TLO as a separate youth program, I would describe it as the platform that helps Painter Pals standardize curriculum, train educators and teaching artists, maintain implementation fidelity, and eventually scale SIBSIM, RIR, and related programming to additional schools and communities.

Art Kit Access and Distribution is a cross-program equity strategy. Painter Pals provides comprehensive art materials so that participation does not depend on what a student, family, school, or community organization can afford. Kits support SIBSIM, RIR, Sanctuary Studio, and other partner-based programming while helping students continue creating beyond a single session.

Target Audience

Painter Pals primarily serves children in Pre-K through 8th grade, with a focus on students from low-income, BIPOC, and historically underserved communities who may have limited access to arts education, social-emotional learning, and preventive mental-health supports. Our programs are designed for young learners across early childhood, elementary, and middle-school settings, particularly in Title I and other under-resourced schools and community-based youth programs. Through trauma-informed arts education and MTSS Tier 1 SEL supports, Painter Pals helps students build emotional literacy, self-regulation, confidence, creativity, peer relationships, and a stronger sense of belonging.

Geographic Focus

United States, California (USA), Washington (USA)

Current projects

Painter Pals is currently focused on expanding and strengthening several interconnected projects.

Sound in Body, Sound in Mind (SIBSIM)- is our flagship trauma-informed arts and SEL program for Pre-K–8 students. It provides MTSS Tier 1 support through structured artmaking, emotional literacy, reflection, and relationship-building. Current work includes expanding school-based delivery, strengthening instructor training, and improving student outcome evaluation.

Rooted in Resilience (RIR)- is our community and summer initiative combining art, SEL, urban agriculture, environmental learning, and resilience. Painter Pals is developing partnerships and implementation opportunities for RIR in Seattle.

We are also building:

Teachers Lounge Online (TLO)- as a digital training and curriculum platform to support consistent program delivery and future scale, while expanding our teaching artist pipeline and art kit access initiative to reach more schools and youth-serving organizations.

Together, these projects strengthen Painter Pals’ ability to deliver high-quality, evidence-informed programming while building the infrastructure needed for sustainable growth.

Organization goals

Painter Pals’ organizational goals are to expand equitable access to trauma-informed arts education and social-emotional learning, strengthen the evidence base for our programs, and build a sustainable model capable of reaching significantly more young people.

Over the next several years, Painter Pals aims to:

* Expand Sound in Body, Sound in Mind (SIBSIM) into additional schools and youth-serving organizations, with priority given to Title I and under-resourced communities serving Pre-K–8 students.
* Strengthen student outcomes in emotional literacy, self-regulation, confidence, peer relationships, communication, and sense of belonging.
* Establish SIBSIM as a high-quality MTSS Tier 1 universal support that can be consistently implemented across multiple school and community settings.
* Grow Rooted in Resilience (RIR) into a sustainable summer and community program combining art, SEL, agriculture, environmental learning, and youth resilience.
* Build a larger, well-trained teaching artist workforce so program expansion does not depend on a small number of instructors.
* Strengthen evaluation through validated measurement tools, external evaluation partnerships, implementation-fidelity systems, and transparent reporting of outcomes.
* Expand Teachers Lounge Online as a training and curriculum infrastructure that supports consistent, scalable delivery of Painter Pals programming.
* Increase access to high-quality art materials so participation is not limited by family income or school resources.
* Develop sustainable partnerships with schools, community organizations, healthcare institutions, foundations, corporations, and public agencies.
* Diversify revenue through grants, school contracts, corporate partnerships, individual giving, and program-related earned income to create long-term organizational stability.

Ultimately, Painter Pals seeks to build a scalable, evidence-informed model that supports thousands of young people.

Leadership

Painter Pals is led by a multidisciplinary team with experience in nonprofit leadership, education, program development, finance, mental-health-informed practice, technology, and community engagement.

Founder and Executive Director Jovon Bray provides overall organizational leadership, partnership development, fundraising strategy, program vision, and growth planning. As the founder of Painter Pals, he has led the organization’s expansion from art-kit distribution into school-based trauma-informed arts and social-emotional learning programming, community partnerships, and scalable program development.

The leadership team also includes program, financial, educational, and clinical expertise that supports responsible implementation and growth. Program leadership oversees curriculum delivery, teaching artists, school partnerships, and quality assurance. Financial leadership supports budgeting, grant compliance, financial controls, and organizational sustainability. Educational and clinical advisors help strengthen trauma-informed practices, SEL alignment, MTSS Tier 1 supports, student safety, and program quality.

Painter Pals is also intentionally developing a broader teaching-artist and facilitator pipeline so program delivery does not depend on a single individual. This distributed leadership model allows the organization to maintain consistent standards while expanding into additional schools and community settings.

The organization’s leadership approach combines entrepreneurial growth with strong community relationships, measurable outcomes, fiscal responsibility, and a commitment to equitable access. As Painter Pals scales, leadership priorities include strengthening evaluation, developing staff capacity, diversifying revenue, deepening institutional partnerships, and building systems that support long-term sustainability.

Funding Needs

Grant categories you're seeking

Arts and Culture, BIPOC, Capital Funding, Community and Economic Development, Community Services, Elementary Education, Environment and Conservation, Farming and Agriculture, Health and Medical, Mental Health, Nutrition and Food, Operating Support, Preschool, Quality of Life, Students, Youth and At-Risk Youth

Funding needs

Painter Pals is seeking funding to expand trauma-informed arts and SEL programming for Pre-K–8 students while strengthening the infrastructure needed for sustainable growth.

Funding will support direct program delivery for Sound in Body, Sound in Mind (SIBSIM) and Rooted in Resilience (RIR), including teaching artist compensation, student art kits and consumable supplies, curriculum materials, transportation, program coordination, and evaluation.

Support will also help Painter Pals train additional instructors, strengthen outcome measurement, improve implementation fidelity, and expand digital curriculum and training through Teachers Lounge Online. These investments will allow Painter Pals to serve more schools and community partners without sacrificing program quality.

Priority funding needs include personnel, art materials, program evaluation, instructor training, technology, transportation, and general operating support necessary to coordinate partnerships and sustain year-round programming.

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