Longtime art outreach program trying to overcome funding cuts through 'Pay-to-Paint' fundraisers

Program trying to overcome budget cuts through 'Pay-to-Paint'?fundraisers

On a Sunday afternoon at Allendale United Methodist Church, little kids are all smiles as they spread paint all over an old school bus. Every stroke of paint helps NOMADstudio's art outreach programs.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - On a Sunday afternoon at Allendale United Methodist Church, little kids are all smiles as they spread paint all over an old school bus. Every stroke of paint helps NOMADstudio's art outreach programs. 

What they're saying:

"What we're hoping to accomplish with "Pay-to-Paint" is to just get people to come to learn more about NOMAD and to recruit volunteers so that we can expand our impact in the community," NOMADstudio founder & executive director Carrie Boucher said. 

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Dig deeper:

Volunteers are always welcome, but funds are the biggest need for the non-profit. Families pay $15 for "Pay-to-Paint." Those funds will help offset a $75,000 deficit caused by a federal grant cut and loss of local funds because of last year's hurricanes. 

"One-third of our entire budget was just cut out immediately," Boucher said. "That was supposed to fund our projects through the middle of 2026."

The backstory:

"NOMADstudio is an art outreach organization. We are a team of trauma-informed artists who go out to places like group children's homes. We run an after-school art program at the (Pinellas) Juvenile Detention Center. We pay artists to do pop-up art camps in their neighborhoods, and we bring art to help them kind of connect to their feelings and maybe have a little escape from their difficult situations," Boucher said. 

What's next:

NOMAD will be hosting "Pay-to-Paint" every first Sunday for the rest of 2025 at Allendale United Methodist Church. Aprons and paint are supplied. Families must register online. 

"In a perfect world six months from now, we have a whole crew of volunteers that come out and help us do bus events. We have people who have signed up for monthly donations so that they could come and do Pay-to-Paint free every first Sunday, and they also help to pay it forward and support all of our other programming," Boucher said. "We just have a community of people who really know deeply about the work that NOMAD does beyond painting the bus."