Liberty Children’s Art Project (LCAP) Organization History

Liberty Children’s Art Project (LCAP) was created in 1996 through a start-up grant from the W.K. Kellogg foundation. Originally housed in Negaunee, MI., LCAP welcomed children referred by the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department, Families First, Child and Family Services and the Diversion Program of the Michigan Department of Social Services. The organization worked with the Leadership Class from Negaunee High School, Special Needs students from Negaunee Middle School, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, the Salvation Army as well as the general public. At the Negaunee building, a variety of classes with a wide range of media and methods were offered afterschool, on weekends and during the summer for area youth. In 2006, Marilyn Mutch who started the organization and was the executive director turned the directorship over to Carol Phillips. Due to high overhead costs, the building in Negaunee that housed LCAP was sold and the operation was moved to the Powell Township School where it is currently housed in-kind. Since that time LCAP has successfully worked in Greater Marquette and Alger County in collaboration with an ever expanding number of area schools and other like minded nonprofit organizations. Since 1996, donations from the community have generously supported our mission. These include community foundations, Rotary clubs, local businesses and organizations, private foundations, schools, individuals, community volunteers and generously donated supplies from various sources- Marquette Arts and Culture, Bay College, Northern Michigan University, General Pencil, Inc. among others. These local sources of funding, tuition for some programs (where scholarships are always available) as well as corporate foundations, state/federal grants and in-kind funds (room rental, staff, utilities, and equipment from collaborative organizations) provide the support that makes our programs possible. LCAP is committed to art enrichment which will inspire a lifetime of appreciation and love for the arts in children. Our organization employs passionate artists/art teachers who are invested in contemporary art teaching methods including DBAE– Discipline Based Art Education which promotes art education across the disciplines of art aesthetics, criticism, history and production as well as TAB- Teaching for Artistic Behavior, where students practice coming up with their own art problems to solve, asking questions and seeing possibilities while working in an art studio like setting.