“I always thought of the ARTS to be done by famous ARTS and found in book and in museums. But after the festival I have come to appreciate the ARTS by everyone especially students just like me and they come from all over the world.”

– Fabien Pineda, DC Ambassador at the Festival, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School.

“Children Arm yourselves with ART.

By the pen… write, record, send, express, reveal in poem, play, novel, journal, praise and encouragement to right the world.

By the paint brush….Bring us every color of the rainbow to express freedom, liberty and justice. Helping us all dream great peaceful futures.

By the conducting baton….. Bring to the world joy in song, dance and composition, bring harmony, unity, purity and massive choruses of hope.

More powerful than the sword or gun are these three small sticks. They can change the world.”

– Shona Hammond Boys, Chairman and Founder, New Zealand Children’s Art House Founda- tion Trust; Delegate to 2015WCF.

“I was only nine years old when I took part in the 1st World Children’s Festival, which directly shaped my creative development and my understanding of the role of ART in my own life as well as in today’s society in general. It was within its context that I began to recognize the institutional dimension of ART and to feel the sense of responsibility that emanates from it. This experience also strengthened my conviction that ART does not need to be ‘political’ in an obvious and naïvely moralistic way to have a transforming effect on reality.”

 – Alejandro Goldzycher, PhD, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“The ICAF inspired my first thoughts on politics and things beyond my very insular 8 year old world. It helped to teach me that ART and design have the power to deliver important messages to the world.”

– Carson Beyl

“Energy sparked our IMAGINATION as we excitedly painted colorful, creative, and meaningful posts for peace and justice while discussing questions of human rights and social justice.”

– Kira Corser