Announcing Fall Partnerships!

Every quarter brings new opportunities and challenges, so far this will include:

  • Arts & Formation classes with the residents in recovery at Powerhouse Miniseries in Folsom, CA. These weekly classes provide a safe and creative space to process the healing they need and practice the tools they are learning in their life change program. Angela has designed curriculum to compliment the recovery programs course work and regularly offers new opportunities for participants to express themselves through a variety of creative mediums.
  • After-school Arts classes with the students enrolled in the Folsom’s Hope Stars Program. These weekly classes combine a variety of art skills and Social Emotional Learning tools for students to develop their creative capacities for life. Each month Angela designs activities to mesh with the SEL themes the Stars program staff have mapped out to explore.
  • Arts workshops at several locations in the Sacramento region. Already I have booked 3 arts workshops this fall with area churches by request. These classes are open to the public and will be posted on the website as registrations open. Check out the New Joy Arts classes & programs page or subscribe to the public calendar to see all the offerings available and register online!
  • This Fall Angela will be joining the faculty of the Digital Communication, Art & Design department as an adjunct professor at Jessup University in Rocklin, CA.

At the end of August, Angela will be teaching applied art classes in the visual arts studio program and ART101 a foundational course on creativity. Besides instructing & inspiring students in the arts, she will also be offering internships & mentoring through New Joy Arts to students from a variety of majors interested in utilizing the arts in their current field of study.

There are SO many ways to impact our community through the arts & creative practice. Through consulting, coaching, partnering & teaching New Joy Arts is bringing the tools for meaningful growth to individuals of all ages. 

At the start of this year there are a few specific needs: 

If you are interested in funding or gifting any of these needs, click on the items listed above or on the link below.

AMazon wish list

Monthly supporters make our programs free to all in need & paying participants fund our scholarship program. Become a patron & grow our resources!

Join Me at Sac Open Studios

SAVE THE DATE! September 19-20th 

I will be participating in Sac Open Studios this year with FIVE other talented artists to share my own artwork and spread the word about New Joy Arts.

AngelaLeave a comment

The Studio at Oak Hills: Ending a Fruitful Decade of Partnership


Thank you for your 10 years of creative community arts participation & support! ~ Angela Houk, The Studio Director
After 10 years of partnership between New Joy Arts and Oak Hills Church, The Studio has closed it’s doors. We had a wonderful time offering classes, workshops and creative opportunities to our community!

Over the years we have had hundreds of individuals & families join us to cultivate their creative capacities in addition to partnering with dozens of local community organizations. Check out our list below!

Did you attend a Family Flourish event, an Art Immersion Week workshop, an introductory art class or one of the monthly Creative Spiritual Practice sessions or Open Studio? 

If you would like to share, we would love to hear your stories!
 
You can send a note through email or share a story on our Facebook page here. Tell us how The Studio helped “Cultivate Your Creative Capacity”.

The reach of our partnership: the green hub of The Studio & Folsom area programs PLUS the red hub of New Joy Arts & regional area programs
Why & what is next?The Studio was established to serve as a hub of creativity by offering in person arts opportunities for the Folsom area & the greater Sacramento region.

In addition to being a place to gather, it also served as the home base for New Joy Arts, the community nonprofit run by Angela Houk.  Having the dual role of Studio Director & Non-profit Director allowed her to serve both aims beautifully.

Over the past several years, engagement through The Studio began to decrease while outreach programs to the community grew. In 2020, when Angela’s family moved to Roseville, it unknowingly helped position New Joy Arts to reach our area more broadly. You can see that on the map above.

With that shift, managing The Studio space & programs in addition to running New Joy Arts partnerships & programs became more challenging to coordinate. The time consumed in transportation alone became a burden. In an effort to consolidate Angela’s time, resources and offerings she decided close The Studio space to create an entirely mobile community arts organizationbased out of her home. You can read more about that on her website here.

If you value the creativity that New Joy Arts has cultivated through The Studio, will you consider giving a gift to help build a space to keep it going?
Donate Here

AngelaLeave a comment

Partnership Spotlight: New Pacific Charter

New Pacific Charter School in Roseville, CA offers TK- 8th grade in-person tuition-free, personalized and project-based learning in a nurturing environment dedicated to every child’s overall success. They use the Leader in Me framework to help foster life-ready leadership skills, based on Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. With these elements, NPS has created a close-knit community where students, parents, and staff work together in a unique small school setting.

New Joy Arts has partnered with NPS in Roseville for the past 2.5 years offering arts integration consulting to the administration, giving teacher support in project based learning and creating a fundamentals of art instruction program for grades through K-10.

Examples of projects exploring color and texture with the K-4th grades

As part of the middle/high school program this spring I worked with the students to create a collaborative mural design for the Clinton Campus! Each of the 3 classes proposed their own ideas, selected favorite elements from one another’s designs and worked to create a composite sketch for the school to vote on. Below is the winning design:

From Facebook:”The winning mural design from Class 3 is coming to life! The mural will be sketched out by New Pacific art teacher Angela Houk and painted by our talented New Pacific Clinton site scholars. This piece will transform the large blank canvas on our shipping container at the Clinton campus into something special!“

The students have worked hard to bring their vision to life! Despite some unseasonable May rain and nearing the end of this school year, we are making great progress. The school logo and some finishing details are all that remains to be done. What a wonderful way for creativity to cultivate community!

Want to see more arts partnerships like this happen in your community?

Become a patron of the arts and help fund initiatives like this school partnership! Many schools do not have a dedicated art teacher and have limited funds to spend on the arts in their programs. By supporting Angela and New Joy Arts you can bring physical resources as well as training to schools that equips both teachers and students to grow their creativity!

Become a Patron of The arts!

AngelaLeave a comment

Partnership Spotlight: HART of Folsom

HART of Folsom is part of a regional network of 10 grassroots HART organizations in the Sacramento area. They are a volunteer-led, non-profit, community-based organization assisting those experiencing homelessness in Folsom toward self-sufficiency and greater independence. Working with local partners who care deeply about serving their unhoused neighbors they strive to reduce rates of homelessness annually by providing a winter shelter program and seven transitional housing units with strong case management services.

New Joy Arts partners with HART to provide weekly art opportunities for the guests staying in the winter shelter. As space allows at each church or community host site, Angela brings a variety of materials and creative projects for individuals to create. This relaxed and conversational time after dinner allows for creative connection, renewal and a welcome release from the struggles of the day. Many guests greet the return of “Art Night” each week with curiosity and joy.

A note from HART:
Thank you so much for bringing the freedom and relaxation of art to all of us at the Winter Shelter this year. It was a beautiful sight to see folks enjoying the activities and your company. You not only brought art but your calm  compassion and sense of humor. You blessed us all greatly each week, thank you for setting apart time for us. We are so very grateful.

Bev Siess and the HART of Folsom Winter Shelter 2026

Angela & New Joy Arts partnered with a local woodworker, Fred Kent, to make this photo booth for HART of Folsom to use at their community fundraising events.

Would you like to help bring more art to our unhoused neighbors?

You can support this initiative and more like it by becoming a monthly patron of New Joy Arts. The regular gifts of donors provides materials and allows Angela to give away programing to organizations like this.

You can volunteer to come create with Angela and connect with the participants or serve with HART. The shelter typically runs Jan – Mar each year. If you are interested in volunteering you can email Angela or check out the HART website.

BECOME A PATRON OF THE ARTS!

AngelaLeave a comment

Celebrating a WonderFULL year of Creative Partnerships!

Thank you for supporting my work through New Joy Arts this past year! There were 5 year round partnerships, 2 school year partnerships, 4 special event partnerships and 1 seasonal partnership. Each organization provided unique opportunities for they people they served to discover their creativity and build community through the arts. Here is a brief summary of the year:

NJA 2025 Year EndDownload

AngelaLeave a comment