The Children’s Art Carnival is a place dedicated to providing visual and communication arts education to the youth of New York City. We provide young people from all five boroughs of this great city with access to the skills and opportunities that enable them to build self-esteem, explore cultural heritage, develop critical thinking skills, cultivate artistic abilities, and develop a sense of community.  As a recognized leader in outstanding arts achievement, The Carnival realizes its mission through its programs: Arts in Education, After School & Saturday, Communication Arts Production & Entrepreneurial Training, and Community Outreach & Partnership Programs.

The Carnival is proud to draw inspiration from the remarkable creative spirit of Harlem.  We teach our students about the cultural legacy of their city by exposing them to the great fruits of the artists and innovators who built the cultural institutions and traditions of which they are a part.  Carnival students learn artistic skills, but also learn to appreciate their role in their communities so that they will be able to use art for the betterment of the world in which they live.  

The Carnival’s mission for 40 years has been to provide children and youth with skills and opportunities that enable them to realize their potential for becoming positive, creative and productive adults through the use of visual and communication arts. The Carnival carries out its mission by fostering creative thinking as a necessary ingredient of intellectual development; by stimulating youth to become excited about learning; by motivating them to pursue their education for the purpose of becoming leaders in an ethnically diverse world; and by providing beauty and discipline in the lives of youth to protect our future environment, both human and physical.

The Children’s Art Carnival is one of the oldest arts organizations in Harlem. Founded in 1969 as a community outreach program of the Museum of Modern Art, The Carnival became an independent entity in 1972 and has grown into a 40 year old institution receiving numerous awards and recognition for its work with young people in Harlem and throughout New York City.

The Carnival is a recipient of numerous awards including the 1989 New York State Governor's Award; and the 1995 CBS Fulfilling the Dream Award; the 1999 Pacesetter Award; the 2000 DREAM Award. For two consecutive years, The Carnival received a top AOL Time Warner Award for its summer arts programming. The Carnival also received honorable mention for Small Hands, Big Art Exhibition Competition and was hailed Community Champion by New York Newsday. A certified member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, The Carnival has established itself as a vanguard in the arts in education field. 

The Carnival's founder, Betty Blayton Taylor, envisioned and realized a haven where children would be supported in all of their visual arts endeavors. With classes in sculpture, painting, mixed media and film making for four decades, The Carnival has nurtured two generations of young artists, sustaining Betty's pioneering work for forty years now. Click HERE to learn more about our founder, Betty Blayton Taylor.