St. Paul, MN—Young artists who worked with mosaic artist Sharra Frank for 6 weeks this summer in COMPAS’ ArtsWork program will dedicate “A Place to Grow” at Neighborhood House (179 Robie Street East, St. Paul) on Tuesday, August 15, 2006, at 2:00 P.M. Like Neighborhood House, which operates the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center in St. Paul, the original mosaic creation is vibrant and diverse.
Mosaic materials used on the 3 panels, each about 2 feet wide by 4 feet high, include stained glass, mirrors, porcelain tiles, gems, beads, paper under glass, gold leaf, and china. The design was sketched onto the surfaces, leaving room for improvisation and spontaneity. Then the apprentices laid, adhered, grouted, cleaned, and polished the mosaic materials to create a finished product. A combination of unique textures, bright colors, and materials, the universal garden theme of the mosaic speaks to all ages, cultures, and languages. Among the small creatures, flowers, fruits, and vegetables are familiar buildings from the community that surrounds Neighborhood House. Thus the garden promotes growth, creativity, love, and community spirit.
ArtsWork mosaic artists are Claire Oslund, Edith Cho, Carolyn Soley, Anna Voskresensky, Elizabeth Amundsen, Luke Chen, P. Croix Farnham, Xing Li, and Yang Mee Moua. Mentoring Artist Sharra Frank also helped with the work.
ArtsWork employed 35 St. Paul youth, ages 14 to 21, as apprentice artists from June 19 to July 28. This summer, youth participated in three artist-led groups—music, jewelry, and mosaics—and created original works of art and performed for the public. COMPAS again hired economically disadvantaged youth using the services of the St. Paul Youth Job Corps under contract with the City of Saint Paul.
ArtsWork has the following goals:
• Provide meaningful employment for young people.
• Provide mentoring by professional artists.
• Raise public visibility of downtown Saint Paul and build community outreach.
• Create an environment that reflects and honors the diversity of the community.
COMPAS partnered with the City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation (jewelry, mosaics and ArtsWork Store in tents on Ecolab Plaza) and the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists (music). In addition, COMPAS worked with Saint Paul Connections (school credit for apprentices who complete the program), Landmark Center (site for activities and performances), and Youth Job Corps (recruiting and paying salaries of the apprentices from low-income families.)
Support for ArtsWork was provided by Comcast, Creative Integration and Design, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Ecolab, St. Paul Travelers, Bremer Financial, Target Foundation, and Opus Foundation.
COMPAS strengthens individuals and communities in Minnesota by engaging them in creating art. Formed in 1974, COMPAS is Minnesota’s most widely-used resource for artist residencies and community-building through the arts, each year engaging over 300,000 people in more than 100 Minnesota communities. For over 3 decades COMPAS has demonstrated artistic leadership through its arts education programs.
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