Program: City Center Art
Year Started: 1991
Focus: Visual Arts & Humanities
Youth Served: 130
Ages: 5-18
Budget: $100,000

City Center Art was started in 1991 by Space One Eleven's (SOE's) visual artists, who ran their contemporary art center out of urban warehouses converted into galleries and studios. When they noticed neighborhood youth hanging out at one warehouse and asking to participate, the artists submitted a proposal to a state agency to fund a visual arts program for youth living in the nearby public housing complex. The City Center Art after-school program now brings together groups of 10-15 youth twice a week for 2 hours in the afternoon. Additionally, an annual 8-week summer camp is held for over 150 children. Classes are free, but participants must agree to certain conditions, such as parental and community involvement. Each class is led by a professional artist and two artist assistants. The program emphasizes cross-discipline studies and integrates hands-on skills, such as painting or sculpture, with visits to local cultural institutions. During a visit to the Birmingham Museum of Art to see the Ceramics of Mexico show, participants learned about the art of different regions of Mexico and discussed ceramic traditions in the United States before creating their own ceramics. A 5-year commission awarded to the summer art camp for a mosaic for BirminghamÌs Boutwell Auditorium is galvanizing youth and the community. Participants studied the cityÌs history, created a model and worked through their ideas with professionals. They are now meeting regularly with a city planner as they create 20,000 individually made red-clay bricks within a steel infrastructure, symbolic of the cityÌs former industries.