Arts on the Block

Growth doesn't always look like a finished mosaic. 💜

It's National Arts in Education Week led by Americans for the Arts, so we asked our apprentices what their time at Arts on the Block has meant to them. Their answers say it better than we ever could. 🎥

Some of these young people came in barely able to speak up in a room. Watch them now: projecting their voices, presenting their work to donors and partners, and calling each other teammates. That's what art does — it builds confidence, connection, and a real sense of belonging.

(The other clip is the mosaic our apprentices have been building all summer — proof that growth is a work in progress, one tile at a time.)

To everyone in Silver Spring and beyond who makes this possible: thank you. If you'd like to help more young artists find their voice, you can support them here 👉 artsontheblock.com

This summer, 17 teens spent five weeks in our Silver Spring studio turning thousands of tiny tiles into real public art. When we asked what they loved most, the same three answers kept coming back:

🧩 Working with their hands
🎨 Learning from real, working artists
🫶 The people beside them

Skills, mentorship, community ..... that's what arts education builds, and it's exactly what National Arts in Education Week (Sept 13–19) is all about. Watch the mosaic come to life. 👆 Americans for the Arts

Every apprenticeship like this one is powered by people who believe creative kids deserve real opportunities. If that's you, help us keep serving our youth with a donation:
👉 https://artsontheblock.networkforgood.com/projects/198239-aob-donation-page

cc: Maryland State Arts Council , Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County

🎨 August is going by fast, and we can't believe our apprentices will be going back to school so soon! We're going to miss them hard at work! Heres the second half of a timelapse we posted earlier this week, working on our more colorful mosiacs!

🎨❇️ Ever curious how it looks like when we work on a mosaic? Heres a timelapse of some of our summer apprentices hard at work on one of our recent mosaics!

🎨🌦️ Despite the rain this ( and next week), we're still working hard on our mosiacs and our promise to add a bit of creativity and art into the world, slowly but surely! We can't wait to see them completed! This is a video of our apprentices hard at work on one of our many mosiacs in the studio!