Programs

  • Program 1 [2020]

    St. Louis ArtWorks is a unique job training program in the arts for youth ages 14 - 19 years old. Apprentices work with professional teaching artists to learn a specific art discipline along with critical life skills and employment training. Youth apply for paid apprenticeships and are paired with professional teaching artists to work in teams for projects through grants and contracts for local, state, and federal governments and commissioned works of art for corporate, foundation, and individual clients as well as art for sale, public performance, and display. ArtWorks offers a wide variety of artistic disciplines including mural design, sculpture, textiles, painting, digital art and technology, photography, graphic arts, videography, and more. Apprentices receive training in workforce development, career preparation, arts education, and life skills training, all while creating art and earning a stipend. Job Training activities include client meetings, open house events and public sales. In Life Skills training, youth learn effective communication skills, environmental stewardship, and fiscal literacy, as well as the importance of nutrition, good health, and personal safety. An art therapist provides group sessions to improve their overall sense of well-being and their feeling of connection to their community and individual sessions, as needed. The art therapist has also provided career counseling assessments and sessions for apprentices to assist them in developing career goals. In the six-week summer program, youth work five hours a day, five days a week. Programs offered in the fall and spring are for 13 weeks after school and on Saturdays. . ArtWorks Enterprises (AWE) is our social venture that includes three enterprises - Boomerang Press, BoomerRacks, and BloomWorks. AWE provides revenue to help sustain the organization and to help young people develop life-changing employment skills. Boomerang Press/Media teaches cross- disciplinary skills in video, design, layout, and illustration through graphics and media services to clients. BoomerRacks creates bike racks and related works of art using up-cycled bike parts. BloomWorks focuses on sustainable development projects for the garden and public park and urban streetscapes by producing rain barrels, planters, landscape plans, and art from up-cycled materials. . ArtWorks' audience is underserved youth (ages 14 - 19) from the St. Louis region, who are at great risk for unemployment, low academic achievement, dropping out of school, and/or not pursuing post-secondary opportunities. In 2020, 89% of participants were considered "low income", with 28% meeting the threshold for "extremely low-income", as defined by Federal HUD guidelines. Although open to all students, most attend schools that lack the financial resources to provide access to quality arts and humanities programming. . ArtWorks is dedicated to helping bridge the learning gap of underserved youth through our unique job training and life skills education program. Our program uses the framework of 21st century skills (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) to help underserved youth access opportunities in education and careers that might otherwise be missed. . In 2020, ArtWorks went through many external and internal changes. We had a shift in leadership with the retirement of our Executive Director after 20 years of service. We voted in a new Board Chair and worked with consultants to develop a new strategic plan while still producing a quality program focused on enriching the lives of youth. . Recognizing that technology and the workforce are ever-changing and the need to adapt to and be flexible in the highly technological world in which we are living is so important. We consistently evaluate our programming and develop best practices based on national data and labor trends to create contemporary training programs for the youth. . PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS: In total, St. Louis ArtWorks served more than 80 youth apprentices (some youth participated in more than one session for a total of 112) from St. Louis City and County in the Spring, Summer, and Fall programs. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the need to ensure the safety and well-being of the staff and apprentices, ArtWorks adopted a hybrid program model of online and onsite programming and created numerous public art installations and artwork to be sold at ArtWorks' sales (postponed due to the pandemic). Staff conducted outreach through social media and distributing flyers to schools, community centers and other locations to recruit students for the upcoming programs. The number of participating youth was significantly less than the 200 youth typically served annually due to the pandemic.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2020
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $375.8K

  • ArtWorks Youth Job Training

    St. Louis ArtWorks is a unique job training program in the arts for youth ages 14 - 19 years old. Apprentices work with professional teaching artists to learn a specific art discipline along with critical life skills and employment training. Youth apply for paid apprenticeships and are paired with professional teaching artists to work in teams for projects through grants and contracts for local, state and federal governments and commissioned works of art for corporate, foundation, and individual clients as well as art for sale, public performance, and display. Artworks offers a wide variety of artistic disciplines including mural design, sculpture, textiles, painting, digital art and technology, photography, graphic arts, videography, and more. Apprentices receive training in workforce development, career preparation, arts education, and life skills training, all while creating art and earning a stipend. Job Training activities include client meetings, open house events and public sales. In Life Skills training, youth learn effective communication skills, environmental stewardship, and fiscal literacy, as well as the importance of nutrition, good health, and personal safety. An art therapist provides group sessions to improve their overall sense of well-being and their feeling of connection to their community and individual sessions, as needed. The art therapist also provided career counseling assessments and sessions for apprentices to assist them in developing career goals. In the six-week summer program, youth work five hours a day, five days a week. Programs offered in the fall and spring are for 13 weeks after school and on Saturdays. . ArtWorks Enterprises (AWE) is our social venture that includes three enterprises - Boomerang Press, BoomerRacks, and BloomWorks. AWE provides revenue to help sustain the organization and to help young people develop life-changing employment skills. Boomerang Press/Media teaches cross disciplinary skills in video, design, layout, and illustration through graphics and media services to clients. BoomerRacks creates bike racks and related works of art using up-cycled bike parts. BloomWorks focuses on sustainable development projects for the garden and public park and urban streetscapes by producing rain barrels, planters, landscape plans, and art from up-cycled materials. . ArtWorks audience is underserved youth (ages 14-19) from the St. Louis region who are at great risk for unemployment, low academic achievement, dropping out of school, and/or not pursuing post-secondary opportunities. In 2023, of 111 participants, 43.2% of the apprentices resided in the City and 22.5% resided in the County Promise Zone. Youth came from 48 different zip codes; 67.5% identified as Black, 17.1% as Caucasian; 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, and 7.2% as two or more races. . ArtWorks is dedicated to helping bridge the learning gap of underserved youth through our unique job training and life skills education program. Our program uses the framework of 21st century skills (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) to help underserved youth access opportunities in education and careers that might otherwise be missed. . Program Accomplishments: In the Spring of 2023, we hosted a reunion event for the St. Louis historic Black Artists Group (B.A.G.). In February we installed a mural on the exterior of our building We Belong: Bridging the Gap. In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, we developed a documentary titled The Revival of the Dream: How Does it End. During the Spring and Summer of 2023, we were commissioned by the National Park Service and Gateway Arch Park Foundation to create murals for downtown St. Louis.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2023
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $534K