 |  | Celestial designs for matching vases. |
Arts on the Block
Teen apprentices develop art and business skills
By Tisha Tryens
Photos: Lizzy Raskulinecz & Eric Bond
Area High School students are attending after school visual arts workshops, intended to provide training and to cultivate creativity through a Career Transition Center program called Arts on the Block. Students from Kennedy, Springbrook, and Wheaton High Schools gather in a local studio on Wednesdays between 3:15 and 5:45pm to listen to lectures on business strategies, plan the latest commissioned mural, and showcase their interpretations of art that they observed on their last field trip. Director Jan Goldstein who started the program after inspiration from a similar arts program, Gallery 37 in Chicago, says of Arts on the Block, "The apprentices all share a passion for art, and cross all kinds of barriers in developing their skills."
 | | Apprentice Vichhana Suon sketches a design for an Arts on the Block client. |
These apprentices are selected through a process that includes an application, interview, and portfolio review. Once admitted to the program they learn skills which will supplement what they learn in Montgomery County arts classrooms. Because arts funding in public schools is minimal, it's through programs like this one that students are able to, "get exposure and learn about arts and artists," and, "learn everything [they] need to know from the business aspect of the field," according to apprentice Brittney Givens.
Apprentices in the past have created projects like the "Silver Pass," the beautification of an underpass located at Georgia Ave. and Blair Mill Rd, which illustrates the area's growth and change over time. The project was led by Byron Peck, a well-respected DC artist, with the collaboration of Carien Quiroga (one of his former students) and 25 apprentices from area schools. This $75,000 mural was finished both "on time and under budget," according to Goldstein who felt the project was one of the major accomplishments of the program.
Currently, a group of apprentices are developing a façade mural at the Charles W. Gilchrest Center for Cultural Diversity in Wheaton, which will use symbols derived from trips to local museums to display the diversity of the area. Apprentice C.D. Fonseka, who is working on the mural, feels Arts on the Block has helped him to "make a lot of friends, and learn about different art like mosaics, glass and tile." He added that "the field trips are fun and educational."
 | | This mural in the Silver Spring underpass was commissioned by Montgomery County. Arts on the Block completed it "on time and under budget." | A separate group of apprentices are working on the business facet of their potential careers. After attending a seminar on how to attain commissions, the students displayed their sketches for mosaic vases. The vases were commisioned by Brookfield Properties to be given as holiday gifts to the tenants of their Silver Spring Metro Plaza Property. Springbrook High School student Nancy Tang says that the program has helped her learn to be more creative: "I'm really excited about making mosaics and glad I'm working on commissions--little projects."
Students are supervised and taught by artists Carien Quiroga and Shahin Shikhaliev, who are committed to the progression of their students abilities. The most beneficial component of the program for Quiroga is "definitely working with apprentices to become more developed, both in their artstic skills and socially."
At the end of this session students will not only have the physical products of their work to reflect on, but will also have newfound creativity and confidence in themselves no matter what career path they choose.
To find out more about Arts on the Block, visit www.artsontheblock.com.
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