Free art kits available for kids in Merced County. Where you can pick them up
When the Paint Your Presence Art Festival scheduled for Sunday at McNamara Park in Merced was canceled due to the coronavirus, Patricia Pratt wanted to figure out a way to redirect the funds to still promote art.
Pratt, who is the local program director of the arts collective Urbanist Collective, used the funding they received through Paint Your Presence to purchase art supplies and create 800 art kits that will be distributed free to kids in Merced County.
The kits will be dropped off at 11 locations in Merced, Planada and Delhi on Saturday. Kits left over will be available outside Pratt’s Kreepy Kawaii Designs & Abracadabra shop located at 1731 Canal Street in Merced from noon until 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“Right now during quarantine, it’s just just causing boredom, it’s also creating anxiety for children,” Pratt said. “Having a creative outlet can really help. It also gives parents a respite break while giving children something to do.”
Pratt and her volunteers have created art kits for older kids and art kits for younger children.
The kits for older kids include sketch books, colored pencils, water color sets and water color paper. The art kits for smaller kids include
activity sheets, blank drawing pages, colored pencils and stickers.
The kits also include instructions to enter an art contest.
The art kits will be dropped off at free little libraries.
In Merced, the art kits will be dropped off at The Fruit House (5966 E. Highway 140), Unity Church (305 W. 26th St.), the corner of W. 22nd Street and I Street, 1770 D Street, which is between 18th Street and Main Street and W. Donna Dr. between Beals and Wathen and Almond Ave., between Merced Ave. and Yosemite Parkway.
In Planada, the art kits can be picked up at the El Gallito Bakery, which is located at 9236 Standford Ave. In Delhi the kits will be available across from Schendel Elementary School and across from Delhi High School.
In the Beachwood area, the kits will be located at 2470 Lobo Avenue and the Danwood Little Free Library.
