Overview
Embracing Our Differences is a Southwest Florida-based non-profit organization that has operated for over 23 years, celebrating individuality, diversity, and shared humanity through visual art and educational programming. The organization’s flagship initiative is an annual international juried exhibition that displays large-scale billboard-sized artworks, each paired with an insightful public quotation. Alongside its public exhibitions, the organization operates extensive year-round educational programs across regional Florida school districts, including Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas, and Charlotte counties.
Objectives
The organization aims to promote kindness, respect, inclusion, and genuine acceptance while sparking public dialogue about understanding and empathy. By utilizing art and creative writing as tools to ignite social change, Embracing Our Differences strives to help students, educators, and community members critically examine personal biases. Through curriculum-aligned workshops, field trips, and educator training, the non-profit works to build inclusive learning environments and vibrant communities where individual differences are embraced.
Programs / Opportunities
- Annual Juried International Call for Visual Art & Quotations: An open call for artists and writers worldwide to submit visual artworks and short creative quotations for potential inclusion in the annual outdoor public exhibition, featuring cash awards for selected winners.
- Exhibition Field Trips & Tours: Subsidized and free in-person and virtual exhibition field trips for Pre-K through 12th-grade students, featuring student-driven tours focused on observation, critical thinking, and character building.
- Educator Workshops & Professional Development: Accredited training opportunities, including the Art Intensive, Education Ambassadors Program, and the Reading Art Online PD Course, providing educators with professional development credits and inclusive teaching strategies.
- Curriculum Resources & School Clubs: Age-appropriate lesson plans developed with public school curriculum teams incorporating Florida State Standards, alongside reading days and student service-learning clubs.
Target Community
- Visual Artists & Writers: International and local artists, illustrators, students, and creative writers submitting visual works or quotations to the annual competition.
- Educators & School Administrations: Pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, visual art specialists, administrators, and staff across public, private, and charter schools in Florida (including Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas, and Charlotte counties).
- Students & Youth: Hundreds of thousands of elementary, middle, and high school students participating in field trips, reading programs, and service-learning initiatives.
- Regional Public Audience: Southwest Florida residents, families, and international visitors engaging with the annual public outdoor art exhibitions.
