ATLANTA, GA.- The High Museum of Art reached a major milestone for its Art Access program recently, welcoming more than 100,000 participants since its inception in 2004. Art Access provides metro Atlanta students a high-quality, dynamic visual arts experience by offering free Museum visits to a limited number of students in all grade levels.

This all-inclusive field trip program includes free admission for students and required chaperones as well as payment of school bus transportation (if required), free teacher resources and “Welcome Back” cards for all participating students that allow each child to return to the Museum with his or her family one time, free of charge.

The Kendeda Fund has provided not only operating support for the Art Access program since 2004, but also funding for an endowment challenge grant that seeks to make Art Access a permanent program at the High Museum of Art. Additional support for the Art Access “I See Literacy” and “I See History” permanent collection tours is provided by the Vera A. Milner Memorial Endowment for Children’s Education.

“Each year more than 70,000 students of all ages engage in education and outreach activities at the High,” said Patricia Rodewald, the High’s Eleanor McDonald Storza Director of Education. “The High has had the privilege and ability to significantly enrich the educational experiences of thousands of Atlanta children by providing a foundation for life-long learning and enjoyment of the visual arts through Art Access. With the help of great donors who believe in the value of art education, the High has dramatically increased the number of students afforded this opportunity. We look forward to continued support and our next 100,000 students.”

Art Access
The Art Access program was created in 2004 with the goal of removing all economic barriers to visiting the High for approximately 15,000 public school students each year. The program also aims to concentrate on high-risk schools or districts where arts education funding has been cut most dramatically, or where there is persistent under-funding of arts education. 87% of Art Access applications for the 2009–2010 school year have come from Title One schools. Art Access is open to all public schools in all grade levels in the ten-county metro Atlanta area and in the Marietta City , Atlanta Public and Decatur City school districts. Art Access is an application program.