The Power of Art

A Letter from the Founder and CEO, Bette Fetter

Dear Friends,

Young Rembrandts began many years ago as a gift to a dear friend. Her young, elementary-aged children wanted to learn how to draw, and while there was a bounty of sport offerings, there were few choices for art instruction. As I gathered eight young children around my kitchen table, we started an adventure that has grown in ways I never imagined.

When asking my young friends what they wanted to learn about, I was reminded of the void I had always felt as a child doing art. Art had always been presented as a process of discovery and expression, yet I longed for some specific direction and information. I recall how my inability to create much of what I could imagine came from a lack of knowing how. This void of information was very limiting and is interpreted by most children as an absence of talent, rather than a lack of instruction. I was able to give my Young Rembrandts students the information, direction and tools that increased their abilities, their confidence and their skill levels.

Over the years we have been honored to work with thousands and thousands of pre-school and elementary students. We are continually blessed by hundreds of Young Rembrandts Instructors, committed to developing drawing and learning skills in young children. We are thankful for the Young Rembrandts' franchisees that have come alongside us to expand art instruction and bring a new truth to art education across the nation. Young Rembrandts has long been a labor of love and continues to beckon us to new people, places and classrooms.

After years of success in the classroom and research on the impact of arts on developing minds, I have written my first book, Being Visual. In this book I share insights on learning styles, what we can do to help children learn more effectively and the role the arts play in developing young minds. The arts are not just for the art kids. Science, technology, engineering and math students-our STEM subjects-also need the arts to fully develop.

I hope you'll join us on this journey to empower children through participation in the arts and on our mission to help children, parents and educators understand the power, passion and significance of art.

Bette Fetter
Founder and CEO
Young Rembrandts, Inc.