Founded in 2012, ARCK Boston is a 501(c)(3) youth-development organization that uses creativity, design, and hands-on learning to strengthen young people’s confidence, leadership, and professional skills while expanding their pathways to college and careers. What began as a volunteer-led classroom initiative has now reached nearly 10,000 students.

CORE VALUES

CREATIVITY: We foster a safe and nurturing space where imagination and self-expression can thrive.

COLLABORATION: We build meaningful relationships and work together to achieve shared goals and foster a culture of mutual respect, well-being, and inclusion.

INNOVATION: We develop creative approaches for community impact, embracing new ideas, bold thinking, and continuous learning to solve real-world challenges while prioritizing the well-being of people and communities.

HISTORY

“It’s not only about visual art experiences. It’s about opening a dialogue between students and the outside world. Through an investigation of culture and the promotion of acceptance, we are able to expand on the idea of respect, self-expression, and support the development of informed, proactive citizens of the world.”
— Sara Mraish Demeter, ARCK Founder and CEO

ARCK is the brainchild of an immigrant mom on a mission. When ARCK founder Sara Mraish Demeter saw her son’s school lose its art program, she was compelled to act. Sara knew first-hand how important the arts are to young people. As a refugee and immigrant to the United States, Sara used arts and creativity to help bring stability, expression, and healing to her new life in a new place. Years later, raising her family in Boston, she could not stand by and watch kids have this life-altering tool taken away from them. And so, ARCK was born. What started in 2011 as a pilot program in one classroom of the Josiah Quincy Elementary School quickly expanded to the entire school. Over a decade later, ARCK has engaged close to 8,600 students, and is bringing arts education back to under-resourced public schools through its unique and interdisciplinary teaching model for educators—providing students with the creative thinking and social skills that advance their classroom learning and are crucial to their future success.