20 E Central Parkway
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Youth Apprentice Employment Program
ArtWorks addresses childhood poverty and workforce inequality in Greater Cincinnati. The Youth Apprentice Employment Program provides a diverse group of youth (ages 14-21, over 50% from low-income backgrounds, over 50% from minority backgrounds) with quality jobs and 21st-century career-skills training within the unique and powerful context of the visual arts. ArtWorks employs professional artists to mentor Youth Apprentices as they work with community partners to enliven and improve public spaces.
The support of the Dater Foundation helped ArtWorks to exceed its 2019 goals. In 2019, ArtWorks employed 130 Youth Apprentices from 59 neighborhoods, with 59% from low-income households, to create 23 public art projects, including 9 large-scale murals. 106 community events engaged 405,239 people, 45,452 of which were children. As part of the BLINKā¢ Creative Leadership team, ArtWorks employed 30 Youth Apprentices and 6 professional artists to create light-up floats, costumes, and puppet shows, engaging 1.5 million people in arts experiences over 4 days.
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