Artist and humanitarian leads nonprofit with mission to create an equitable world

Sarah Drake first visited the continent of Africa in 2011. Her experiences meeting the women and children in the village of Tiébélé, Burkina Faso in West Africa would ultimately inspire the St. Cloud State University alumna to start the nonprofit herARTS in Action.

The nonprofit, founded in 2011, maintains the mission of creating “an equitable world through increased access and social justice with art,” and looks to achieve that mission by producing and selling art as well as facilitating artistic experiences that educate on global topics, create social change, and fund local and global sustainability projects.

“We work locally in the arts — especially in communities of color, low income, various abilities — getting access to the arts, but also creating the space for people’s voices to be heard and for them to express themselves,” Drake said. “And then internationally, we work on access to clean water and sanitation, so that women and girls can focus on going to school and entrepreneurship. We help sponsor 30 girls to cover all of their education and we currently have three projects that we’ve funded for the entrepreneurship part, and have a couple waiting to get started.”

The people — especially the women and children — of Burkina Faso have long inspired Drake, especially during her first visit.

“I knew there was going to be poverty and people that didn't have clean water and electricity, but seeing it was different than just knowing it was going to be there. Meeting with the women and talking with them and hearing that — as moms and women — no matter where we are in the world, we have similar hopes and we have similar issues.

“Then adding that I almost died from an illness that 25,000 children under the age of 5 die from every year in that country, but because I was American, I got the best care and was fine in a couple of days. That really was the catalyst of — I already knew I wanted to do something to help, but that just made it that I have to do something, because I got access to care they don't even have in their own country. So that's what really got things going.”

Drake has used her artistic talents to both share the stories of those she’s met in West Africa — with their permission — and fundraise for efforts put back into those communities. To her, creativity and humanitarianism go hand in hand.

“I’ve never really been the type where my artwork was just: paint something pretty and realistic to go on the wall,” she said. “It was always something with social justice, helping to tell a story.”

The “Nanou’s Promise” children’s books she has written and illustrated about her experiences in Burkina Faso stemmed from Drake feeling like she wasn’t generating enough interest for the needs of West Africa.

“I thought, ‘How can I reach more people?’ Because I obviously can't have conversations with everybody, so that's when the idea for the books came. I can make the artwork. I can write the stories I had permission to share, because again, these aren't my stories,” she said. “Some of it is a little bit; it’s my experience being there, but being able to talk about their culture and things — it was important that I had their permission. So this has been a way to help talk about the humanitarian side and fundraise. When you buy a book here, you're helping to sponsor a girl go to school there.”

In addition to her international efforts, Drake is also a champion for local communities.

“I do a lot of mentorship with students and murals. Them being able to see themselves represented in the community, but also to be a part of it and know they're being seen and heard in their community is really important,” she said. “The art part with the humanitarian part; they just go together really well.”

In July 2024, Drake was able to share gallery space at St. Cloud’s Paramount Center for the Arts with her artistic muse: Harlem Renaissance collage artist Romare Bearden. Drake’s work was on display with Bearden’s, and she also invited her students to share artwork created during their classes.

“It was really important for me to be able to share that space with some of my Black students and biracial students,” Drake said. “Not only them being able to see work that represents them that was created by Bearden, but then to have their voices represented in the most popular gallery space we have in town and with somebody of the caliber of Bearden — just the whole bringing all of that together is probably my biggest and proudest accomplishment right now.”

It’s important to Drake that she never stops learning. She feels her hunger for learning particularly grew during her time at SCSU, where she earned a Bachelor of Elective Studies in 2005 and a master’s in social responsibility in 2009.

“Having that opportunity to take in such a variety of things really opened my mind and my thoughts to what's even possible. I grew up before the internet and there wasn't even a stoplight in my town, so I didn't have a lot of experiences,” she said. “So all those different classes made me more hungry for knowledge. I've always said if I could be a professional student and my bills could be paid and all I needed to do was learn — I would love that.”

Drake hopes to pass that love for learning on to her students.

“Be open to what's out there, and that you don't know everything, and there's so much to experience,” she said. “I mean, 20 years ago I got my bachelor's degree, right? And even now, with all I have under my belt, I'm still learning new things every day. So just be open, continue being a lifelong learner and realize the possibilities that continuing to learn can open up.”