April 22, 2026
Patricia Santos didn’t let disappointment define her.
As a young, up-and-coming artist eager to show her work at a local gallery, Santos was told it was not what they were looking for.
“It made me feel really small,” she said. “I didn’t want anybody else to experience this.”
Instead of letting the sting of rejection hold her back, she resolved to continue pursuing her passion and do everything possible to ensure other young people in Yonkers had support while pursuing theirs.
“It catapulted me to say, ‘Let’s just create our own lane,’” she recalled.
She found studio space and shared it with other artists. Then she formed We Art One: Artist Collective Inc. (WAO), a nonprofit that provides gallery space, support, and education on a variety of topics, including entrepreneurship. Members of the community pitched in with funding and sweat equity to help prepare the space, and in 2021, Santos received her first grant: $15,000 from the City of Yonkers.
“I tried to get out there, but it was difficult,” she said. “I didn’t have a budget. I didn’t know what I was doing. Then along came Project RISE.”
With several leadership classes under her belt and ongoing grant funding from Project RISE, WAO is thriving. The organization has reached approximately 500 young people, including nine artists who use the studio with 24/7 access, youth participating in mentorship opportunities, and students connected through visits to local schools.
WAO was recognized by ArtsWestchester earlier this year for helping shape the cultural fabric of the region. The organization received the Sophia Abeles Arts Education Award for transforming public spaces into hubs for intergenerational healing and serving hundreds of young people and older adults through relationship-based arts programming. WAO artists also volunteer their time through workshops, events, and youth mentoring, creating a cycle of support that helps build a stronger, more vibrant community. Santos’s story also was featured in “Gracefully Haunted,” a mini documentary that premiered at the Westchester County Film Festival last fall.
“This is impacting the whole community, and none of it would have been possible without DCJS and Project RISE,” Santos said. “You are literally making dreams come true.”