Vision

Mission

Values

Empathy: We seek to understand and share the feelings of others.

Cultural awareness: We are open and eager to learn about differences between people.

Creativity: We encourage innovation and thinking outside the box, both in art and in life.

Collaboration: We work together to help each other and gain new perspectives.

Global citizenship: We believe everyone is part of our larger global community.

History

Paintbrush Diplomacy is the lifelong project of Char and Rudy Pribuss, a husband and wife team committed to “sharing the fruits of children’s creativity with people around the world.” Char and Rudy began their travels in the early 1970’s. Char was a professional artist and Rudy was a retired engineer. In the early days, Char set up her easel wherever they stayed and captured the flavor of each place. Before long, she and Rudy noticed that curious children always gathered around, interested in Char’s work and eager to make and share their own paintings.

Although they rarely spoke the same language, Char and Rudy loved the children who came, and they actually got to know some of them. They collected the children’s artwork casually, and eventually they began to exchange paintings with children in other cities and countries. So Paintbrush Diplomacy was born.