Building an inclusive Art community in Jordan.

The idea for ArchiSmile first began in 2014 when a group of Architectural students had a dream of beautifying their community through artistic murals. Starting with the public school we graduated from, we began painting murals in hospitals, orphanages and underserved schools with the ultimate goal of painting smiles on people's faces. Since then, we have organized mural community events in over 30 different locations, in partnership with 20 local and international NGOs and CSOs, including Spark, Unicef and Madrasati. What started off as a volunteer initiative with 20 members, has now trained 170 youth volunteers, and reached over 15,000 youth and young adults in 7 governorates, including a thousand living with a disability or are refugees. In 2018, we began implementing artistic workshops and programs in underserved Jordanian schools, youth and refugee centers. In 2021, through the JoinUp fund, 400 vulnerable youth took part in our Art and Life programs, and we were able to economically empower 16 individuals through art crafts and businesses. In October 2021, we were finally able to make our dream into a reality by opening our own art center where we can give paid art courses to support our charitable work in marginalized areas in Amman.