About

We believe in the power of art to transform individuals and strengthen communities. Our mission is to provide arts-based educational programs that promote creativity, health, well-being and social engagement within community settings.

ArtSpring is invested in providing specifically designed workshop programs to a variety of communities including women’s shelters, healthcare providers, persons with movement challenges, and intergenerational and wellness education programs. While we are no longer offering programs in Florida prisons, we continue to serve as consultants to Arts in Corrections programs, and advocates for prison/sentencing reform.

Due to COVID-19, ArtSpring is no longer offering programming in community settings.  We hope to return to programming soon.

History – Rooted in Dance

In 1992, the seeds of dance and community began to grow when Leslie Neal founded Leslie Neal Dance, Inc. (LND). Initially, this company of female artists created dance theatre works that were performed throughout the Southeast.

In 1994, LND’s activities began to increasingly shift to serving the community by teaching arts to incarcerated women. As a result, LND changed its corporate name to ArtSpring, Inc. in the summer of 2000 to more accurately reflect its community-based efforts.

For 21 years, ArtSpring achieved national recognition for the longest ongoing arts-in-corrections programming in Florida, providing quality arts-based, educational workshops to over 600 inmates and juveniles per year. ArtSpring maintained a faculty of artists, teaching a variety of disciplines including dance, theatre, music, visual arts, poetry and creative writing, utilizing a unique collaborative expressive arts process based in community arts education. Throughout the years, ArtSpring also has delivered programming in residential facilities for girls in foster care, adult residential substance abuse treatment facilities, homeless shelters, public school programs and local community centers.

As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in Florida, ArtSpring has benefited from grants, government funding and support from our members and donors in order to offer our programs at no charge to our various correctional partners and social service agencies.