Program Information:

At ArtWorks for Milwaukee, we utilize the arts to train 21st Century soft employability skills to Milwaukee County high school students, with & without disabilities, who face significant barriers to employment.

Our programming provides our Interns with:

Meaningful employment and training opportunities in 21st Century soft employability skills: Our goal at ArtWorks is to expose young people with employability barriers to real-world job experiences, so they may learn and utilize the soft skills needed for future job success.

Positive mentoring and exposure to diversity: ArtWorks’ programs provide positive mentoring experiences between participating youth, professional artists, and the community. Our diverse participants develop the necessary interaction skills needed to support each other while working together as a team to complete particular goals for each program.

Opportunities to increase artistic skills: Our ultimate goal is to encourage young people to graduate and become more employable contributors to our communities, and we have found much success in utilizing the arts as our method for engaging the populations we serve in reaching these goals. Youth Interns are exposed to new art mediums and techniques, and are given opportunities to engage and improve their artistic skills.

Incorporating 21st Century soft employability skills into our programs:

Our primary goal is to teach Milwaukee County high school students with significant barriers to employment what they need to know to be successful in the world of work. Our organization utilizes arts-based programming whose design are rooted in the 21st Century Skills. Each program offered is designed to incorporate training experiences in these highly transferable skills.

The 21st Century Skills: To view a complete list, Click here.

Click here to view information about how our programs incorporate the 21st Century Skills.

History of the 21st Century Skills: The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has emerged as the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. This national organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century. The Partnership encourages schools, districts and states to advocate for the infusion of 21st century skills into education and provides tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change.

Program Logistics:

ArtWorks’ goal is to offer training programs three times per year -- Summer, Fall & Spring.

Duration of Programs: Spring and fall sessions occur while school is in session, and usually run 8 weeks. Interns work up to 10 after-school hours/week, so they may have enough time tostudy and complete schoolwork. Summer projects also generally run 8 weeks. Interns work up to 20 hours/week.

Number of Youth Employed in Each Program: As a general rule, each program is run by 1 Lead Artist, and hires 8 Interns.

Pay Rates for Program Participants: Lead Artists are hired as independent contractors, and are paid a stipend for their work. Interns are hired as ArtWorks employees, and begin each program earning $6.00/hour. Interns are eligible for a pay increase at the mid-point of each program. Pay increases are based on job performance as measured by mid-point evaluations completed by Lead Artist.