Arts Enrichment For All is among the honorees to be recognized at The Business Journal’s inaugural Philanthropy Excellence Awards for its commitment to expanding arts education opportunities for children across the Central Valley. The Fresno-based nonprofit has been named a Rising Impact Award honoree. Winners in each award category will be announced during the Nov. 5 awards program at Pardini’s Catering & Banquets.
Arts Enrichment For All, a Central Valley nonprofit dedicated to making arts education accessible to every child, has been named a Rising Impact Award honoree.
Founded by Erin Burd, the organization provides youth ages 3-17 with arts education and early exposure through community performances, field trips, onsite classes, workshops and career development opportunities. Since its founding in late 2022, the nonprofit has served more than 17,000 students throughout the Central Valley.
Burd’s commitment to arts accessibility stems from her own experiences navigating the financial barriers to dance education. In 2011, she launched Birdy’s Kids in Motion, a mobile creative movement studio for preschoolers that has introduced more than 10,000 students to the arts across Fresno, Madera, Tulare and Kings counties.
Building on that work, Burd founded Arts Enrichment For All to expand access to developmentally appropriate arts programming. The organization partners with public schools to serve students in deaf and hard-of-hearing classrooms, autism inclusion programs, functional life skills classes and other special day classes.
It also works with the Marjaree Mason Center to support children affected by domestic violence and JDT Consultants to provide programming for foster youth.
Through its growing network of partnerships, Arts Enrichment For All aims to remove barriers to arts education and ensure children of all abilities and backgrounds have opportunities to experience the arts, develop their creativity and explore future career paths.
