Seniors Mark Tucker and Cesar Sosa don't have much in common. Sosa wears a backwards NBA hat, while Tucker sports a dog collar with metal spikes around his neck. Sosa is a regional champ in wrestling, while Tucker describes himself as "kinda goth."
At school, Sosa and Tucker run in different circles, rarely see each other, and when they do, they never speak. But along with several other Blazers twice a week outside of school, Sosa and Tucker hang out, share their love of art and get paid for it. Through Arts on the Block, a project of Montgomery Youth Works, budding high-school artists from all walks of life get a taste of what it's like to make a living as an artist.
A collage of different people
It's almost time to start work, two floors up in a downtown Silver Spring office building. But for now, the apprentices lounge around, snacking and talking. Chairs of all sorts—folding, cushioned and even inflatable—have been pushed together to form some semblance of a circle.
The people are as eclectic as their chairs. "We're all different," says senior Lauren Wong. "Some stage crew people—"
"Some wrestlers," adds Sosa, grinning.
"And everybody here loves art," concludes junior Hannah Schneider.
Director Jan Goldstein founded Arts on the Block last spring, modeling it after a similar program in Chicago called Gallery 37. "It combines the idea that kids can get really solid job training in an area that they love," says Goldstein. "At the same time, [work] in the arts provides unique opportunities for development of job skills that can be applied to any job."
The program attempts to cover a broad base of the arts. One past session focused on poetry, another on papier-mâché sculptures. This time around, the 17 apprentices are learning more about the business side of art as they work together to make mosaic logos for various businesses. Goldstein also gave the students the artistic freedom to personally design and construct mosaic mirrors for sale. The budding artists at Arts on the Block are only a small slice of the 1,500 young people in the region who benefit from Montgomery Youth Works employment opportunities yearly.
A hard day's work
Promptly at 3:00 p.m., lead artist Carien Quiroga calls out to the students, interrupting sophomore Lacey Mitchell's hilarious replay of her day's adventures. After a short pep talk from Quiroga, which ends on a friendly warning to "stay on task, or I'll dock you," the apprentices spread throughout the large office space to begin working on their projects. If Quiroga catches any of the employees not on task, she will "dock," or take away, a portion of their salary for that day.
Only one week away from their May 5 public exhibition and sale, there's a lot still to be done. Sosa is sprawled on the floor, putting the final touches on his mosaic mirror. Wong and Sophie Galson, a senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase (B-CC), are stretched out next to him, piecing together a mosaic plaque for B-CC. Although they're hard at work with their hands, their mouths are off and running, cracking jokes and laughing easily.
"I love art," explains Sosa, matter-of-factly. "That's the real reason I'm here. If I were doing this for the money, I probably wouldn't be here."
Sosa's current plans and goals are a world away from his life one short year ago. After being expelled from Springbrook last year as a junior, Sosa entered Blair this year. Although he wrestled for Springbrook, Sosa never made it through a wrestling season there without becoming academically ineligible. "This was my first year that my grades were good enough that I could go to regionals," says Sosa, smiling. "So I went, and I placed." Sosa hopes to work in the arts as either an architect or a graphic designer.
Arts on the Block exposes aspiring artists of all socioeconomic backgrounds to the opportunities the real world has to offer. "What we used to have happen is that kids who could afford it would pay to take our classes while kids who couldn't afford it would have to get a job flipping burgers," explains Goldstein. "This levels the playing field and gives everyone a chance."
Business as usual
Across the room, Schneider, sophomore Nipon Saisaard and B-CC junior Hanna Worku hunch over a half-finished logo for Salon Jam, a Takoma Park hair salon. But the artists did a lot of legwork before getting to this point. Schneider first went out and made contact with the owner of Salon Jam. Then Worku personally designed the logo. Making the mosaic logo is the final step in sealing the deal on this business transaction.
At their exhibition and sale, Wong gets a good taste of the business side to being an artist. When graphic designer Ann Stephens sees Wong's mirror, she falls in love with it and wants to buy it. "The colors, the composition, the textures!" gushes Stephens.
But to Stephens' dismay, Wong has already sold the mirror, priced at $175, to her parents. When negotiations reach a stalemate, Wong and Goldstein propose a creative solution—Wong will make Stephens another mirror. Forms are filled out, a deposit is made and hands are shaken: Wong has successfully gained her first commission as an artist.
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