Art Opportunities Inc

Programs: Over the past 22 years, artworks has become a community leader as the primary generator of public art in greater cincinnati and the largest employer of visual artists in the region. To date, artworks has hired over 3,300 youth (ages 14-21, 50% from low-income families, 50% from racial/ethnic minorities) and 2,900 professional artists. Artworks hero design company apprentices have worked with over 2,500 children, creating individual artistic experiences to strengthen and empower them in the face of physical, emotional, and situational hardship. Creativity fuels economic growth. Artworks developed the creative enterprise program to spur and support local economic development. From our 9-week business development course, co. Starters, to the annual big pitch business pitch competition, we train and promote creative entrepreneurs through education, mentorships, access to capital and community connections. Artworks has trained over 550 local business owners and launched 300 local businesses. In 2017, on the blink creative leadership team, artworks guided a festival in which over 1 million people experienced a city transformed by art. Artworks rallied over 2,500 people for the blink parade, attended by over 100,000 people. At artworks' core is the public art program, an annual youth employment and workforce development program that provides a diverse group of youth (age 14-21, at least 50% from low-income backgrounds, at least 50% from minority backgrounds) with quality employment and job training within the unique and powerful context of the arts. Through this program, artworks employs professional artists to mentor youth apprentices as they work with community partners to produce art for public spaces. In fiscal year 2017, artworks hired 194 professional artists to teach and mentor 150 (ages 14-21) youth from 68 different neighborhoods and communities. Apprentices represented 48 different high schools and 9 colleges and universities. Apprentice teams reflected the multicultural richness of the communities they served: 43% caucasian; 36% african-american; 11% multi-racial; 10% asian, hispanic/latin american, and other; 51% of the youth involved came from low-income households. Artworks partnered with 155 community, commercial, and cultural organizations in fy2017. Together with agar, brave berlin, the carol ann and ralph v. Haile, jr. /us bank foundation, and the cincinnati regional chamber of commerce, artworks created blink, a light-based interactive art experience that drew over 1 million people to downtown cincinnati and over-the-rhine. As a part of this project, artworks rallied over 2,500 people for the opening parade, attended by over 100,000 people. In total, artworks engaged 1,109,032 people varying in age, background, and socioeconomic status in its community arts events and programs. Creative entrepreneurs enroll in artworks co. Starters and fledgling business owners participate in artworks' big pitch program, learning business skills and strategies from experienced small business owners in cincinnati. Artworks' creative business development programs engaged 56 local small business owners to teach and mentor 45 budding creative entrepreneurs in 2017. The artworks hero design company empowers youth apprentices to reach out to children (ages 5-12) facing physical, emotional, and situational hardship by partnering with pediatric healthcare and social service organizations across the greater cincinnati region. In fy 2017, artworks hero design company employed 26 apprentices and 7 teaching artists to produce 243 capes, engaging as many children and their families in the co-design and production processes. A total of 38 community events, including cape presentation ceremonies, engaged a further 382 individuals, 310 of which were children. Community partners included: refugee connect, roselawn condor elementary school, cincinnati children's hospital medical center champions program, cchmc transgender clinic, uprising, mt. Auburn international academy, and the sheakley boys and girls club.