Artists for Humanity in South Boston employs more teens than any organization in the city.
Guided by mentors, more than 400 young people are hired to work on art and design projects for corporate clients and nonprofit partners. And through the process, many craft their own futures. “
“You can have a creative job in an industry that’s not traditionally considered a creative industry,” explained Anna Yu, executive director of Artists for Humanity. “We’re focused on making sure that everybody has equal opportunity and access to those pathways.”
Ninety percent of the workers, aged 14-18, identify as teens of color. About 88% come from low-income communities. But you don’t have to be an artist to work there – you may just be learning basic job skills. Several studios are tech-driven and focus on coding, animation and graphic design. There is also painting, photography and 3D design.
“I’ve always been an artist. It’s in my DNA,” says Fabiola Lara, who is now an interior designer with Miller Dyer Spears Architects. For some adults, like Lara, the experience at Artists for Humanity was transformational.
“It gave me exposure to art and design that I didn’t know existed,” she said.
There is no one size fits all when it comes to creativity.
“Doing art my whole life since I was five, I never thought that I could sell a painting or even have an art career. So being able to have that ability and being exposed to that here was life changing,” said Derek Jesus.
Eventually he traded the pencils and paintbrush for a needle. Now he owns and operates a custom Tattoo shop in Brockton, called Ground Flourish.
“For someone to buy a painting from you or a piece of art, but they want to wear it on their bodies for the rest of their lives, I found that as an artist it was a really high honor,” Jesus said.
On Thursday, Aug. 22, from 5 p.m.- 8 p.m. Artists for Humanity will be holding its annual Summer Art Show, where some of the works made by students will be available for purchase.