Our History
In 1972, a small group of the Children’s Creative Project (CCP) volunteer artists served 200 children at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara. In 1975, Children’s Creative Project acquired non-profit status and became a Santa Barbara County Education Office program under then-Superintendent William J. Cirone.
Recognition
In 1999, Children’s Creative Project was among 91 nationwide model arts education programs recognized by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a report, Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education. The report was a study by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and Arts Education Partnership. It is the first national study to examine the success strategies of school districts in building and sustaining strong district-wide arts education programs.
In 1999, Children’s Creative Project received The Creative Ticket Schools of Excellence Award from the California Alliance for Arts Education, a member of the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network.
The Children’s Creative Project and founding Executive Director Kathy Koury received the 2015 Leadership in the Arts Award from the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission.