ArtWorks hosts community fundraiser
By Shanae Chapman
For the St. Louis American
The St. Louis ArtWorks job training program held a rooftop event this past Saturday at its Centene Center of the Arts location at 3547 Olive, near the Saint Louis University main campus in Midtown.
The festivities started at 6:30 p.m. with a viewing of the artwork created by the teenage apprentices of the program and continued with a barbecue, a silent auction and live music by Nancy Kranzberg and the Second Half Band.
For 11 years the St. Louis ArtWorks program has been a beam of hope for more than 1,000 at-risk youth, ages 14-21, in the St. Louis area who are provided with a unique work experience in the visual and performing arts.
Professional artists and dancers teach the apprentices in fields such as drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, dance, graphics, and printmaking.
Through the Boomerang Press ArtWorks apprentices design and sell note cards, holiday cards, and calendars. The apprentices have also been commissioned for public art by the Missouri Foundation of Health, Citigroup, McCormack Baron Salzar and the Incarnate Word Foundation, among others.
Not only do the apprentices have the opportunity to practice crafts that they love but they have the chance to earn money as they explore the world of art.
Photography apprentice Tasheka Graves says that having the chance to “do what she loves” is why she enjoys the program and that “there aren’t a lot of programs like it.”
The teen apprentices are chosen after interviews as practice for their future job-hunting endeavors. Earning a pay check for their art gives many of the apprentices their first work-related experience.
The ArtWorks program has been going strong since its creation in 1995 through collaboration from the Mayor’s Office of St. Louis City, the Regional Arts Commission, the Missouri Arts Council, Grand Center, Inc., and the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE). The program has expanded from a summer job program to include year round programs in the fall and spring.
St. Louis ArtWorks recently won the YouthBridge Award handed out at the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (SEIC). The SEIC is put on by Washington University in St. Louis and the YouthBridge Association to recognize and award organizations that use entrepreneurial ventures to help resolve social issues.
Kedra Tolsen, a member of the board of directors of St. Louis ArtWorks, says that the “kids get a chance to work with professionals, learn about art and get paid for something that brings their ideas into formation while learning about the business side of art. It’s made clear that there is a career in art.”
And why wouldn’t there be for the talented apprentices at ArtWorks, who are encouraged to aspire to their full potential.
For more information, contact Executive Director Priscilla Block at (314) 289-4181, Program Director Robyn Schrager at (314) 289-4182 or visit www.stlartworks.org.
