ANGELA MACIAS, Pioneer Press
Like most children, Kara Newbauer's first brush with art came when she received a set of crayons. But unlike most of her peers, Newbauer, 18, never quit using them to create colorful works of art.
Last year, Newbauer's youthful art efforts were supplemented with a dose of "real world" training through ArtsWork, an arts youth employment program launched by the nonprofit arts program COMPAS (Community Programs in the Arts) and the city of St. Paul. Now in its second year, an expanded ArtsWork summertime program began Monday, matching professional mentors with 70 budding artists and writers ages 14 to 21.
In addition to the visual arts, the program now includes its first writers' workshop, which will be led by Diego Vazquez, a Twin Cities poet, novelist and veteran writers-in-the-schools teacher.
"My overall impression is that they are very accomplished, and they have a tremendous amount of potential to get better," he said of his 10 apprentices. Each of the writing apprentices will receive a laptop computer courtesy of Lawson Software, one of the program sponsors.
The project also is adding music and city beautification projects, such as a West Seventh Street mural.
Last year's efforts were deemed a success in mixing work experience for the 60 artists with training in everything from drawing and painting to model making and a wide array of art techniques.
As a result, increased funding from corporate sponsors and grants have provided more facilities, 18 more positions and a broader mission, said Jeff Prauer, executive director of COMPAS.
Home base for the program is Ecolab Plaza, where white tents filled with young artists will join four "Looking for Lucy" statues as summertime fixtures. ArtsWork also will use classrooms in the Minnesota Business Academy, housed nearby in the west building of the former Science Museum of Minnesota.
The program is even expanding outside downtown. Visual artists, for example, will be using the walls of a Minnesota Brewing Co. building as a canvas for a West Seventh Street mural, Prauer said.
The huge task could take two or three summers to complete, he said, and could be intriguing enough to lure some of the participants for future years.
"It would be great to have some of those kids back to finish what we started," Prauer said.
John Dunn, 16, a senior at St. Paul's Como Park High School, intends to return this summer to learn a new skill -- jewelry making.
Dunn's stained-glass work last year proved a far more exciting and rewarding way to make money than his previous job at a small convenience store. ArtsWork, he said, "was perfect for me."
The apprentices' pay works out to $6 an hour, with senior apprentices getting $8. Although the youths have an opportunity to sell their work at the end of their stint, the proceeds go to the program, not the artist.
But the artists receive something many consider more valuable than cash.
When applying for the program, they engage in job interviews and must present a portfolio of their work.
Mentors guide the youths on how to improve their portfolios and resumes while in the program.
"It is a really great learning experience," said Newbauer, a recent graduate of Sibley High School in Mendota Heights.
Newbauer used her expanded portfolio when she applied, and was accepted,- to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, which she will attend this fall.
As a second-year apprentice, Newbauer says the program has even more appeal. She will be working again on a large-scale three-dimensional work known as an installation piece. And this year, she was promoted to a senior apprenticeship. ArtsWork also gives her a chance to see friends she made last year.
"It is starting to become a community of people," she said.
Angela Macias can be reached at amacias@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-2083.
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