Tucson-Pima Arts Council
240 N. Stone AvenueTucsonAZ85701
520-624-0595520-624-3001

Program: ArtWORKS Year Started: 1993 Focus: Visual Arts Youth Served: 157 Ages: 11-21 Budget: $155,000 Through ArtWORKS, youth are paid to work with professional artists to design and construct public art pieces for the community. Young people work 30 hours per week for 7 weeks during the summer in groups of 10, under the direction of professional artists who are as culturally diverse as the Tucson area. Counselors are hired to meet with each group once a week to help prevent and resolve conflicts. Field trips throughout the 7 weeks provide information on career options associated with the hands-on skills being learned. Completed projects include mosaic tiles for streets, exterior and interior murals, video productions, public education exhibitions and computer animation projects. These projects are an educational benefit to the young people. When youth build a public art piece and present it to the community, math, science and language skills become necessary, not abstract, skills. Some youth who participate for consecutive summers become program assistants. Because of the success of ArtWORKS, the Arts Council runs similar programs during the school year, including an after-school multimedia project for middle school youth and 8-week, after-school artists-in-residence programs for younger children in parks and recreation sites. ArtWORKS funding comes from many sources, including the state Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) and Tucson's Golf Surcharge for Youth Programs.