New Mural Club for Youth meets Saturday in Tucson Arts District

 

Mural Club Starts Saturday January 24

There is a new opportunity for youth in Tucson, the Mural Club now meets every Saturday from 3-6pm January 24 - May 16 to design and paint public murals. Youth ages 8-18 can now register for the program which gathers at the Citizens Artist Collective, Studio 13, 44 W 6th Street in downtown Tucson, Arizona every Saturday from 3pm-6pm.

Get your paint clothing on, young artists are painting up the town. This spring includes projects in Ajo, AZ, neighborhood and social change murals. Get involved with the growing international wall art movement. Raise your voice, raise your paintbrush!

Youth have the opportunity to assist master artists on projects, help out on neighborhood beautification efforts, enjoy field trips and help create a wave of change. Each week we work in the studio, and then move out into the field to work on projects.

This is a project of the Tucson Mural Arts Program, administer by the Tucson Arts Brigade. Support is made possible in part by the Tucson Pima Arts Council PLACE initiative, the Bank of America, Tucson Realtors Charitable Foundation and generous individual donations.

The Mural Club provides an out-of-school-time outlet for youth ages 8 - 18, and young adults to engage in the arts, workforce and economic development, while employing arts-based solutions to address community issues such as crime, drug use, health, and neighborhood revitalization.

There is a suggested $20. material fee per session.

To register or for more information email: TMAP@TucsonArtsBrigade.org

Community Arts and Murals: Call to Artists: Street Art Happening

Community Arts and Murals: Call to Artists: Street Art Happening: As part of the Community Arts Gathering March 14-18, 2015 Hosted by the International Sonoran Desert Alliance Grab a piece of the wall- ...

Tucson Arts Brigade 2014 Annual Report Highlights

Amphi Action Mural, Woods Library

Tucson Arts Brigade Annual Report 2014

This has been an amazing year of growth, change and resilience. Since 1996 the Arts Brigade has offered a variety of community cultural development programs. Today that work continues as we seek to provide year round, county wide, arts and civic engagement opportunities especially to youth.

Our focus on youth arts and education comes in response to over 180 requests for services over the past 2 years. We are excited about the potential to meet these needs, and are looking to secure resources to train and hire art teachers and a management team who can provide services for more than 15,000 youth living in the Tucson metro area. Currently we have only been able to secure the resources to deliver services to a fraction of thsese youth.

To deliver services we embarked on an exciting year of community arts education and advocacy programs engaging hundreds of Tucson residents, and impacting thousands more.

• Over 200 people attended the Edible Art Gala to support TAB.
• Presented to the University of Arizona Art and Visual Education Department Classes
• Presenter, Emerging Conversations, Art and Visual Education Symposium, University of Arizona: Imagining Arts Education 2034
• Hosted two US Department of Arts & Culture Imaginings as part of a nation wide cultural organizing effort. The USDAC is an imaginary people powered federal department. TAB is now part of an international association of colleagues that meets bi-weekly.
• The Youth Arts and Civic Engagement Program continues to meet once a week. Over 60 youth have participated this year.
• We hosted three hands on Days of Arts Service (2/14, 5/10 and 9/13) involving over 160 people. We removed trash, maintained murals and filled several roll-offs with debris.
• TAB co-sponsored two forums on House-less issues, and successfully promoting Community Arts Integration and the concept that the house-less people themselves are the experts on their own lives. 
• TAB participated for the 5th year in the 4RCA Coalition meetings and initiatives helping to impact hundreds of youth in the 29th street area.
• We hosted a series of advocacy based mural tours, including tours for visiting artists Janet Goldner (NYC), Lincoln Cushing (SF) and the Mayor of Tucson.
• We hosted a series of adult evening painting workshops, and one professional development workshop with Teaching Artist Paul Fisher.
• Our executive Director was one of several jurors for the county wide High School Student Art show at the Pima County Main Library for the 5th year in a row.
• We participated in the “Make A Difference” art project and auction, which netted over $2,000. to provide first aid kits for migrants.
• We participated in a number of outreach events, including the City High School Block Party, Ft Lowell Soccer Shootout, Loft Cinema, Jewish Community Center, Downtown and other locations reaching over 1500 people.
• ACE youth organized the “Color of Our Voices” gathering of youth artists at the Maker House. This gathering featured youth facilitated workshops, performances and discussions. Over 70 youth participated in this day long, inspiring event.
• TAB’s internship program helped five youth move from school to work though our workforce development program.
• Presented on a Ward Three Alliance panel on youth community building opportunities.
• Continued to maintain the 20 murals we have created about town.
• Held a series of meetings with Central City Assembly and TIARC refugee services to identify program needs. We identified over 500 refugee youth who would benefit from and participate in the weekly out of school time ACE program.
• In collaboration wit the USDAC we dispatched a artist delegation to the Border to document the stories of migrants and border residents.
• The Female Story Tellers featured TAB at their September benefit where ACE youth presented.
• A mural project was started with our new partner Refugee Focus, where we are currently in the design phase.
• Test QR codes were installed at several mural sites to enhance the mural viewing experience. The QR codes take visitors to a blog that explains the process behind the murals and the cultural and historical context of the works.
• A new series of murals were created at the Dream Center for house-less people. Additional murals are in progress in the parking lot.

Thank you to all of our donors, and foundation support:

• #BankofAmerica
• #TucsonPimaArtsCouncil
• #TucsonRealtorsCharitableFoundation
• #PuffinFoundation

All of this activity was augmented by closing the TAB office and directing all resources toward the mission of TAB and driving force of the organization, to provide arts education for the community of Tucson and beyond. And we could not have accomplished all of this without you! Thank you for all of your support and please consider an end of the year, tax-deductible donation to the Tucson Arts Brigade, today!




Sincerely;

Melissa Black
TAB Board President

Michael Schwartz
TAB Director