We are proud to be an Educational and Art based Nonprofit 501c(3) Organization!
Kids Share Workshops Awarded
2010 USBBY-Press Release
A note from the creator of Kids Share Workshops, Kristina Applegate
“Back in 2007 through 2009 when Kids Share Workshops (KSW) was being developed from Portraits for Charity, I was focused on creating art for adults dealing with cancer and helping to raise money for a small, rural community in Vermont. I was in the infancy stages of development with the help of amazing volunteers. We soon created our first workshop in Central Vermont .
It started with a special group of kids at Union Elementary school and their class mate Ash Brittenham who was illustrated with Spiderman to help raise money for Duchene Muscular Dystrophy, thanks to retired school teachers Roger Crowley (now professional photographer) and Newton Baker (Ultra Elite Marathon Runner) Ash was a fifth grader at the time who won a Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators Award sponsored by Vermont Public Television. His books were sold through Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD). Today Ash is living successfully with Duchene Muscular Dystophy and I am pleased to say I recently was his art teacher for a day at the high school!
Ash and his classmate with the help of then Portraits for Charity and later Kids Share Workshops, successfully reached out to the Tibetan Children’s Village in Bylakuppe, India sharing stories, co-created artwork, their lives and eventually several professionally co-created, powerful illustrations assisted with Kristina Applegate, founder and creator of KSW.
After a Kids Share Book was created and printed, in 2010 USBBY Bridge to Understanding Award was awarded to Kids Share Workshops and Kristina Applegate in Washington, DC.
My goal is to continue my work with the Tibetan Children’s Villages and/or Tibetan children living in exile, by traveling and working personally with the children to create their very own power, co-created mural and/or illustration for them that they can use to change their world! I very much want to document this journey so that many people can see and feel the powerful affect art can have in everyone’s lives. Live Creatively!”
–Kristina Applegate, founder and creator of Kids Share Workshops
To understand the full journey and creation of how Kids Share Workshops started, please read our first KSW book, Kids Share: Tibetan and Vermont Children’s Narratives!
Kids Share Tibet & Vermont 