We sow the seeds of freedom by cultivating students' creativity and harvesting mutual empathy for a peaceful, prosperous future.

[**Rai·son d'ê·tre**](https://icaf.org/about/why-icaf)

Since 1997, the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) has been serving American children as their national arts organization that cultivates their creativity and grows mutual empathy through the power of the arts for a peaceful and prosperous future. 

Creativity is now more than ever before a crucial career skill today, while empathy is humanity's survival skill. 

What young people contribute or create in their lives depends on their self-identity. The development of a holistic student identity underlies ICAF’s theory of change.

Through its free school art program, ICAF promotes the Artist-Athlete Ideal, which embodies a creative mind and a healthy body (*mente sana in corpore sano*). This holistic identity awakens a student's dormant “inner artist” or the slumbering “inner athlete,” helping mitigate obesity risks and creativity slumps.

At its World Children's Festival, ICAF's methodology infuses creativity with empathy, motivating students to become "creative empaths" who can work together to shape a brighter future.

[**Research & Publications**](https://icaf.org/resources/publications)
ICAF’s seminal research has been published in several leading journals, including [The Lancet](https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673606699157.pdf) and [Dynamische Psychiatrie](https://icaf.org/resource/pdfs/CreativeEmpaths.pdf). Since 1998, ICAF has published the ad-free quarterly, the ChildArt magazine. Please preview the [AI & Art ](https://www.icaf.org/AI&Art/)magazine and the [Human Security ](https://icaf.org/resource/flipbooks/HumanSecurity/)magazine.

[**The Arts Olympiad**](https://icaf.org/mission/arts-olympiad.)
ICAF’s Arts Olympiad has evolved over the years into the world’s largest school art program. Its structured lesson plans culminate in art contests on the theme "My Favorite Sport." ICAF selects the most exceptional artworks and invites the young Artists-Athletes as delegates to the World Children’s Festival. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has granted ICAF an exclusive license to utilize the "Arts Olympiad" mark.

The 7th Arts Olympiad, currently taking place in the United States and nearly fifty countries, is projected to benefit more than half a million students worldwide. For more information about the program in select countries, please click [here](https://icaf.org/resource/pdfs/Arts-Olympiad-Stories-Texas.pdf).

[**World Children’s Festival**](https://WorldChildrensFestival.org)
The World Children’s Festival (WCF) offers a transformative experience, infusing creativity with empathy to give them hope. While learning is a biological process that creates new neural connections, developing empathy necessitates unlearning ingrained biases and prejudices to activate the “mirror neurons” that underpin empathetic responses. As empathy flourishes, divisions diminish, polarization lessens, consensus emerges, nations come together, and the world becomes more peaceful. The educational programming for this three-day public celebration of children's talents is rooted in STEAMS education, an innovative approach developed by ICAF that integrates Arts and Sports into the STEM disciplines. For an overview of the WCF, please click [here](https://www.icaf.org/resource/flipbooks/Creativity,DiversityandUnity/).

The 7th World Children’s Festival, held at the National Mall from June 30 to July 2, 2026, will also serve as the children's celebration of America's 250th birthday. 

**Other Art Programs**
ICAF occasionally organizes [Peace through Art Programs](https://icaf.org/mission/peace-through-art) to restore the trust in humanity of children in conflict zones and [Healing Art Programs](https://icaf.org/mission/healing-arts-program) to revive faith in nature of child victims of natural disasters. ICAF also pays attention to [climate change](https://icaf.org/mission/climate-change) because of its impact on children’s lives.

**Sport Art Exhibitions**
As the largest children’s art organization, ICAF curates exhibitions worldwide to bring its unprecedented collection to significant venues and museums. ICAF exhibitions embolden children and kindle the inner child in professionals. Please watch this [3:22-minute clip](https://youtu.be/0Cv7qHQM7fM?si=XFAHo8MZDs2Sj7e_).

**Art & Sports Online Contests**
To engage children worldwide in the LA28 Olympics, ICAF has launched an online art contest for students aged 8 to 20. This inclusive platform allows participants to create artwork about their favorite sport, share it with family and friends, and receive votes from any sports fan or art lover, contributing to the selection of the winners. https://MyFavoriteSport.org. 

[**Partnerships**](https://icaf.org/about/partnership)
ICAF has worked with the United Nations, the National Institutes of Health, the International Society for Education through Art, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization. 

ICAF’s sponsors have included corporations and grantmakers such as the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. ICAF is independently ranked among the 25 Top Children’s Charities in the United States.

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