A Window Between Worlds (AWBW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using art to help end domestic violence. Through creative expression, battered women and children gain a sense of renewal and power. Their images of hope, survival and strength educate the public and become "a window between worlds" for survivors taking steps to change their lives.

A Window Between Worlds (AWBW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using art to help end domestic violence. Since 1991, AWBW has provided creative expression as a healing tool for over 40,000 battered women and their children in crisis shelters, transitional homes, and outreach centers throughout the United States.

By providing an environment that promotes healing, art workshops help women and children to develop a renewed sense of hope and possibility that profoundly impacts future decisions regarding the direction of their lives, their relationships, and how to stay safe. Art empowers survivors to transform how they view themselves, allowing them to see past the abusive messages they learned from their batterers and rebuild their self-confidence.

The AWBW Windows Program is available to any person, agency or organization seeking to implement art as an activity to gain a sense of renewal, clarity, and strength. We invite you to learn more about our programs and to join us in using art to empower survivors and to break the silence surrounding domestic violence in our communities.

A Window Between Worlds’ programs aim to:

• Make art available as a powerful resource for domestic violence survivors

• Assist domestic violence agencies in creating vital, permanent art programs

• Leverage the impact of our work through collaboration

Women’s Windows and Children's Windows programs empower domestic violence survivors to express their feelings, build their confidence, and rediscover their hopes and dreams for a better future.

Survivor's Art Circle workshops foster connections and support for domestic violence survivors who are outside the shelter setting.

Exhibits and Art Journals enable survivors to educate their communities, and help domestic violence organizations conduct outreach and build support for their programs.

Leadership training and program support provide the resources needed by partner agencies to implement and sustain a successful Windows Programs for the women and children they serve.

Cathy Salser, Founder & Executive Director
Audrey Salzburg, Associate Director
Trini Nunez, Administrative Coordinator/Bookkeeper
Andrea Penagos, Volunteer Coordinator / Assistant to the Associate Director
Ondy Sweetman, Grants Manager
Olivia Piacenza, Program Director
Cheryl Silver, Children's Windows Coordinator
Roxanne Pipkin, Women's Windows Coordinator
Christy Turek, Outreach Coordinator
Alison Clausen, Program Assistant
Marci Zeimet, Program Assistant

AWBW is the only organization offering comprehensive training and ongoing support to domestic violence programs wishing to use art as a healing tool for battered women and children. By training shelter staff to lead workshops, AWBW builds the capacity of shelters. We provide our years of experience in arts program development, ongoing consultation, and the support of a network of 220 leaders in order to empower staff, who often lack experience with art prior to our training, to offer art as a meaningful resource to domestic violence survivors. Implementing the art program becomes part of the regular duties of each leader, making it a permanent addition to each shelter’s services.

Please see our website for this information: http://awbw.org/awbw/about-results.php