Photo provided; photo by Ayna Lorenzo
Stamps - On the Move
Josh Nadzam, Tricia Dailey, Wendi Keene, Hope Reed
A social worker by day and social entrepreneur in all other waking hours, Josh Nadzam is a walking, talking, mission- driven lender of helping hands—particularly when it comes to giving artistic expression to kids. He is the co-founder and director of On the Move Art Studio, a traveling trailer with art supplies to provide arts education and experiences to at-risk youth in Central Kentucky.
“My dream was always to start a nonprofit to help kids who grew up like me,” he said. Nadzam grew up in a rough neighborhood near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that had a lot of drugs and poverty. “There weren’t a lot of positive things going on and unfortunately many of the kids I grew up with have passed away from heroin overdose,” he said.
His own family struggled with alcoholism and addiction. Thinking his ticket out would be sports, he sent “many desperate emails” to Division I college coaches, and the only school to take him seriously was the University of Kentucky. “The UK track and field team gave me a shot to walk on and that was all I wanted,” he said, “someone to give me a chance.”
Nadzam came to Lexington in 2007, eventually earning a full scholarship to complete his bachelor’s degree in social work. In 2013 he also earned a master’s in the same subject. Today he teaches classes in the UK College of Social Work and is a social worker at Connie Griffith-Ballard Towers, the public housing facility owned and operated by Lexington Housing Authority.
Determined to give others a chance as early and often as possible, Nadzam knew it would be easier to empower kids with individual hands-on art classes than organized team sports. And because helping the community takes the community, he and co-founder Kathy Werking, a local artist and teacher, reached out to the public through a Kickstarter campaign in 2014. Their vision of making art accessible to all young people was brought to fruition with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 10, 2015.
Incorporated as Art Work Empowerment, the 501(c)(3) goes by the name On the Move Art Studio. In its first year, volunteer art facilitators served 2,646 children across Lexington, taking art projects to them by way of a renovated 1969 Streamline trailer. The organization recently expanded to Bourbon County, and Nadzam is hoping to find a more reliable truck to haul the vintage trailer.
To find the kids themselves, Nadzam decided early on not to reinvent the wheel.
“Collaboration is the very foundation for our work at On the Move Art Studio,” he said. He partnered with existing after-school programs and organizations that wanted to add art classes to their programs: Breckinridge Elementary, Crossroads Christian Church, God’s Pantry and Urban Impact, to name a few.
Urban Impact is an outreach program of Lexington Leadership Foundation, a faith-based nonprofit that “connects, unifies and mobilizes people to tackle the toughest issues in the city,” according to CEO Eric Geary.
Lexington Leadership Foundation spends most of its resources on urban youth development, so it was a perfect fit for the group’s after-school art sessions to be provided by On the Move Art Studio. Last October, the larger organization presented Nadzam with the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award during its annual fundraising banquet. “That award goes to someone who kind of challenges the status quo or creates something that others can engage in to help the needy,” Geary said.
In addition to collaborating with other nonprofits, On the Move Art Studio works and plays well with local businesses. On the third Tuesday of each month, the mobile art studio sets up at Crank and Boom for Kids’ Art Day. “Any child who comes gets free ice cream from Crank and Boom, free art from us and free snacks sponsored by Nourish Your Neighborhood,” he said.
Receiving the award from Lexington Leadership Foundation was “a really cool surprise” for Nadzam. “It really meant a lot because I respect them so much and because our group works so hard at what we do,” he said, describing social entrepreneurship as finding creative, innovative solutions to social problems. “It’s about fighting social injustices from different approaches,” he said, “and trying to empower people to find their own ways to self-sufficiency.”
For more information about On the Move Art Studio, visit www.onthemoveartstudio.org.