“There aren’t many teenagers that can introduce themselves with a firm handshake,support eye contact, and justify in a succinct way what they’re working on without mumbling and talking to the floor and over
their shoulder, and no matter what background they’re from. But for kids who are predominantly non-white,to be able to memorize these skills and use them in a universal group of people and be able to continue articulating what they’re working on is huge. They also make recent friendships. We try to hire kids from diverse areas of the city so we aren’t bringing in a group from the same social strata or the same school, so they’re meeting kids they wouldn’t know otherwise and they’re learning from that. That is a very valuable thing in the program. And last but not least, and they walk out of here with a paycheck and a resume. On that resume it has contact information for their clients and whether they’re interested in going on in art they’ll believe a portfolio as well.” Priscilla Block: Executive Director of St. Louis ArtWorks
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