Did you know that if a child’s creativity is not nurtured, it could be lost forever? E. Paul Torrance, American psychologist and founder of the Torrance Center for Creativity documented what he called the “4th-grade slump” in the creative lives of children. When children begin school, their level of creativity is evident and often flourishing, but by the time they reach 4th grade, they are more conforming, less likely to take risks, and less playful or spontaneous than in earlier years. This decline in creativity, if not averted, may continue throughout the school years and into adulthood.

That’s why we’re thrilled that the official charity for World Watercolor Month is International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) which employs the universal language of art to cultivate schoolchildren’s creativity to prepare them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and develop mutual empathy for a peaceful future. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ICAF serves American children as their national arts organization and the world’s children as their global arts organization.