New Orleans Foundation for Experiential Arts Renewal [NO FEAR] is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reimagining artmaking in the 21st century and the purposes it can serve.
In Phase 1 of our mission, we are developing compelling program models for Experiential Arts and Learning that work to engage, educate, and empower young artists and the communities their artmaking can serve.
Welcome to
NO FEAR
During Phase 2, we will collaborate with respected research partners to develop a clear rationale and methodology for investigating our work, with the goal of demonstrating and legitimizing the efficacy of experiential artmaking using research-based evidence.
Finally in Phase 3, we will work with community partners to reimagine artmaking in the 21st century and the purposes it can serve, with the implications of Experiential Arts and Learning pointing to increased interest, participation, and investment in the arts and arts education.
Improv
Comedy
Starting
Fall 2025!
What is
Experiential Arts?
Experiential Arts (EA) is an approach to artmaking that renews art to its representational and participatory nature.
EA welcomes audiences to become active participants in arts experiences rather than passive observers.
EA calls on artists to create art with audiences rather than for audiences.
EA works to withdraw from the imagination and creativity already within participants rather than deposit the arts from the outside in.
EA can apply to all mediums of art and works to break down barriers in the arts and arts education including artistic, cultural, socioeconomic, geographic, and more.
EA requires minimal resources or expenses to facilitate.
EA can act as an antidote to the rise of Artificial Intelligence and future technological advancements which stand to automate and individualize artmaking exponentially.
What is
Experiential Learning?
An alternative to modern trends in instructional and theoretical training, Experiential Learning is a framework for how humans learn, develop, and create meaningful change throughout their lives.
Specifically, NO FEAR’s mission is inspired by the work of educational pioneers in the field of Experiential Learning including John Dewey (Art as Experience), Maxine Greene (Releasing the Imagination), Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed), and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: The State of Optimal Experience).
Following the Experiential Learning Cycle developed by David Kolb, NO FEAR invites young artists to:
Experience: We pave the way for students to become authors of their own artmaking and produce participatory arts experiences that connect, reflect, and relate with audiences and the communities their artmaking can serve.
Reflect: We welcome students to express their observations, opinions, and curiosities about art and their artmaking experiences.
Experiment: We encourage students to consider and test out new ways of expressing their artistry, representing their life experiences through art, and engaging audiences with participatory artmaking.
Act: We guide students in producing new works and arts experiences that “break the fourth wall” and impact audiences in purposeful and powerful ways.
What is
Experiential
Learning?
Modeled after the work of educational theorists including John Dewey (Art as Experience), Maxine Greene (Releasing the Imagination), Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed), and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: The State of Optimal Experience), Experiential Learning is a framework for how humans learn, develop, and create meaningful change throughout their lives.
Following the Experiential Learning cycle NO FEAR invites young artists to:
Experience: Students become authors of their own artmaking and work cooperatively to connect, reflect, and relate with audiences through participatory arts experiences.
Reflect: We welcome students to express their observations and opinions about their artmaking experiences.
Experiment: We encourage students to consider new ways of expressing their individual and shared experiences through their art.
Act: We guide students in producing arts experiences that serve to bridge cultures and impact audiences in powerful and purposeful ways.