A new program from ArtPlace Mississippi will help area students craft products to be sold statewide.
Starting this fall, the Greenwood nonprofit plans to offer four courses for Leflore County youth, with select students working to design and produce a line of creative products.
Hart Henson, executive director of ArtPlace Mississippi, said the courses will teach valuable skills while raising money to keep the program going in the future.
“It’s job skills, it’s workforce training, it’s entrepreneurial, it’s creative,” Henson said.
The four courses will all be taught by experienced artists and craftsmen at ArtPlace’s headquarters on West Washington Street.
Henson said students for the courses must be between 14 and 18 and will be selected through an application process.
“We want students who are going to be engaged, willing to learn and willing to be here on time,” Henson said. “This is not really just an after-school program. We’re going to have some high standards and focus on craftsmanship and quality for the product line.”
Henson said the program should teach students real-world skills while exposing them to design, teaching them how to use new tools and possibly placing some older students into part-time jobs.
One of the courses, led by carpenter and contractor Richard Elliott, will teach woodworking, carpentry and building skills. Robin Whitfield will lead a class on arts and creative design. David Moore will teach how to build drums and stringed instruments. Yolande Van Heerden will teach a course on fabrics and sewing.
Henson said students in all four classes will collaborate to some degree in crafting a product line, which will be marketed across the state. Students may also have the opportunity to sell some of their work in ArtPlace’s gallery at 212 W. Washington St.
“We’re going to set the bar high. We’re going to expect a lot from the students,” Henson said. “The artists and the teachers we have are highly qualified and experienced, and I expect our products to reflect that.”
The funding for the program comes from a $10,000 Strategic Investment Pilot Program grant, administered by Visit Mississippi’s Bureau of Creative Economy & Culture.
In a press release, Malcolm White, director of Visit Mississippi, said the grant program is “one tool that is helping the state unlock new opportunities to support the individuals and organizations that are developing and nurturing the creative class through job creation, community development and destination marketing.”
The grant will cover the start-up costs for the program, which Henson said should eventually cover its own costs through the sale of student-created items.
“It’s seed money to help us launch a program that may help us become self-sustaining down the line with sales from these products,” Henson said.
Courses in the new program are set to begin in September. Henson said the application criteria haven’t yet been set, but more information on the program can be obtained by calling ArtPlace at 455-2864 or emailing hart@artplacems.com.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
