Our Mission 
Create Now’s mission is to empower youth and young adults from ages 3 to 24 through a variety of arts programs in multiple disciplines that help them to heal and thrive. Our goal is to assist them to get out of poverty and learn skills that can lead to jobs and careers.
Youth in Need
Why the Arts?
There’s a PTSD epidemic that’s impacting tens of thousands of our children, especially those who have suffered from abuse and trauma. Symptoms include severe anxiety, insomnia, mistrust and hostility. Left untreated, PTSD can become chronic, with enormous personal and societal costs.
Studies prove that art therapy is the most effective treatment to reduce the symptoms of PTSD. Create Now’s programs provide essential opportunities for the most troubled youth to heal from trauma, change their lives by building their confidence and self-esteem, and develop skills that can lead to jobs and careers.
Mental Health Benefits
While high-risk and at-risk youth may struggle with academics, many excel in the arts. They develop assurance and self-respect while discovering creative expression to be uplifting and a positive release for pent-up emotions.
The American Art Therapy Association’s research clearly revealed art therapy’s positive impact on children with regard to health, cognition, social interaction, trauma, stress reduction, anxiety, confidence, abuse and most of life’s challenges.
Academic Improvement
A 2009 study at UCLA with 25,000 middle and high school students found students with high arts involvement did better on the SAT than students with low arts involvement. Employment for these youth included better jobs with higher pay, responsibility and promotions.
A ten-year study at Stanford found youth in arts programs were four times likely to win an academic award, eight times likely to get a community service award, four times more apt to be in a math or science fair, and score higher on their SATs.
Employment Outlook
A 2012 NEA study, “The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth,” shows that students in the bottom 25% of the socioeconomic scale who have access to the arts had better academic results and workforce opportunities, plus more civic engagement. These students also voted and volunteered more than their peers.
Otis College’s report on the Creative Economy affirms that in 2018, there were over 865,000 jobs generated through the arts in the Los Angeles region. This output produced $77.9 billion.