We are

We are : ARTWORKS

We come from all parts of St. Louis, city and county. We are all in high school or recently graduated. We are all different, but our love for art and learning makes us similar.

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D.B.

My experience here has been phenomenal! I’ve learned so much from the first day to the last. I’ve been ecstatic since first getting my acceptance. I was shocked to be one of the 92 chosen out of over 500 applicants. I’m so grateful to have something to do over the summer that was beneficial. I’ve had wonderful instructors and coworkers. I’ve learned to be more independent and compassionate about every opportunity.

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D.T.

In the beginning when I first came into St. Louis ArtWorks, I was shy and quiet. The way that I introduced myself was not confident enough, and I didn’t know how to open up to new people. The more I was in St. Louis ArtWorks, the more I started to gain confidence on my art work at home. I began to learn more about introducing myself and explaining what I do here at St. Louis ArtWorks. I learned that it's very important to explain your art pieces to people because that person wants to know what it’s about. I noticed that every time I walked into a store called “Swedlife” the person that works there explains what the stuff in their store is all about and the more he explains, the more my attention is drawn to the things he points out to me. From there on, I was really starting to realize how important it is to explain to people about your art. I’ve also learned that cooperating and being creative is important as a visual artist. I learned that creativity should NOT be limited because you never know how valuable or important it is. I’ve also learned that effort is important too. In the beginning, we all didn’t put too much effort into printing and now realize that this is not just screenprinting when you’re at St. Louis ArtWorks, it's art - because you never know what type of people will appreciate it. I also remember what Priscilla was saying one day. She said, “When you print an image on a shirt, make sure you're not just printing, but make sure your message is telling a story.” And that let me know that when you do any type of art piece, make sure its saying something, not just showing an image. I also learned that it’s not good to wait for something to work. You have to MAKE something happen.

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J.T.

Being in ArtWorks this session has really taught me that a person has hidden talents. Coming into this session, I had no idea what Silk Screening was. I thought that it would be difficult, but it turned out to be very easy. As the session went by, I began to perfect Silk Screening. I realized that it was my hiddent talent. Being here, the teaching artists have inspired me, because they took their knowledge and taught us something that we could use in the future. I enjoyed learning something new and meeting new people who had the same interest that I had in art. I’ve learned how to voice my opinions and how to collaborate with others.

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M.W.

During my time at SLAW I have grown as a person, as an artist, and as an employee. I have learned how to manage my time and money better. I have learned that just because you have a lot of time to finish doesn’t mean you should wait until the last minute, because anything can happen. I learned how to work with a variety of partners on projects. I have grown to take pride in the things I do. Before this summer at ArtWorks, I didn’t have a true understanding of (the difference between) being proud and showing off. I have truly enjoyed my time at ArtWorks because I have gained life skills that I will apply in my future.

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S.B.

Working at ArtWorks for over a year now has been a wonderful experience. ArtWorks has taught me many life skills that I will never forget. How to professionally talk in a client meeting, how to budget my money and my spending, and how to embrace my leadership skills. ArtWorks should be recommended to all teens, especially young teens to give them a starting point, sort of a fresh start. ArtWorks can provide help to all sorts of people. You don’t necessarily have to be an artist to have this job, you just have to have the ambition to at least try to get the job done. ArtWorks isn’t just a job it’s a life lesson. They require that you write/type a resume while working in the program. They’re preparing you for the real work job environment, this is an actual starting point. Community scholarship opportunities are also shared in the program as well. ArtWorks is a tremendous program that should not be passed up or taken for granted.

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S.R.

ArtWorks has inspired me to continue to pursue my dream of becoming a working artist. Despite what has been said about the difficulty level, and outcome of becoming an artist, I am convinced that this is something close to my heart and well worth fighting for. Here at St. Louis ArtWorks, when screen printing, we use silk screens, squeeges, and water based ink along with transferring images on frabrics. We usually try our best to clean up our materials and tools here at the end of the work day. For our screen printing, the apprentices split into two groups, each coming up with their own design as separate teams without competition. For the designs, we looked at our inspiration from artists such as Matt Vogel and Andy Warhol and Angela Davis. We not only do this to make money, but we also do it because we enjoy art.

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