Arts + Public Life Education

offers in-depth arts programming to Chicago South Side youth, cultivating creativity, social development, and leadership while inspiring them to find and create their places in the world.

Paid Arts Programs for South Side Teens |

OFFERINGS

Arts + Public Life offers year-round arts education on the Arts Block in the spring, summer, and fall. Youth receive compensation for their time and hard work.

Backstage Production Program | BSP

The Backstage Production is designed to introduce South Side Chicago youth to the fundamentals of theater production while giving them hands-on experience in audio and lighting design, sound engineering, and stage management.
Design Apprenticeship Program I & II | DAP

The Design Apprenticeship Program is a design-based mentorship and skills-building initiative that encourages teens and young adults to invest in the improvement of the physical and social conditions of their community.

Teen Arts Council | TAC

The Teen Arts Council (TAC) is a group of student leaders who collaborate with the Arts + Public Life initiative to develop creative skills, leadership experience, and opportunities for their peers to engage with the arts.
Community Actors Program | CAP (On Pause)

The Community Actors Program is an introductory performance program utilizing Theater of the Oppressed, participatory theater, and performance as tools for community building and social change.

Teaching Philosophy

We believe in the power of student voice. We lead programs that are learner-centered and process-driven in order to amplify these voices.
Our project-based approach allows students to respond to real-world demands while learning from their lived experiences and their peers.
We conduct continuous assessments to evaluate and enhance program quality and meet the needs of students and educators.

Pedagogical Values

Artistic + Creative Growth

Community Action + Vision

Professional Experience

Leadership Capacity

ARTS + PUBLIC LIFE TEACHING ARTISTS

Ebere Agwuncha

Education Programs Manager
ebere agwuncha (she/they) is a Chicago-born and based, Nigerian American transdisciplinary artist whose practice seeks to reach the natural depths of memory that hands carry through contemporary craft practices. They dream alongside the archives of the black diaspora, making architecture(s) for the world to embrace through touch, preservation, ritual, domesticity, and intimacy. She currently utilizes various techniques, including woodworking, ceramics, woven natural fibers, photography, interactive sound, installation, sculpture, and moving images.
Aisha Romer

Design Apprenticeship Program (DAP)
Aisha (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist from the Southside of Chicago and is a 2023 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). As an alumnus of the Design Apprenticeship Program (DAP), Aisha is passionate about highlighting the beauty and wonder of Chicago through a variety of mediums. Her work is rooted in a deep appreciation for her hometown, blending visual art, storytelling, and other forms to create a unique narrative that captures the spirit of the city. Aisha's creative approach invites audiences to see Chicago through a fresh, imaginative lens.
Josué Esaú Romero Velasquez

Design Apprenticeship Program (DAP)
Josué (he/him) is an artist whose work in sculpture, archiving, and various media explores the realities of being undocumented in the U.S., seeking ways to create safety, home, and legacy for himself and the communities he loves.
Simone Scigousky

Teen Arts Council (TAC)
Simone Athena Scigousky (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Chicago, IL. After graduating from SAIC in 2022 with a B.F.A.A.E, Scigousky has taught visual art at Walter Payton College Prep High School, Gallery 37, and Arts + Public Life as the Teen Arts Council (TAC) instructor. Scigousky seeks to empower young people through art activist and social justice centered curriculum. Collaboration, communication, and community are the cornerstones of their pedagogy. In her own artistic practice, Scigousky positions an ecological framework on her personal memories, experiences, and perspective through intuitive and explorative making.
Razor Wintercastle

The Back Stage Production Program (BSP)
Educator, artist, and a long time backstage production crew member. Razor (she/her) has worked and toured locally and internationally with concerts, films, plays, cruises, expos, and dance companies. She also mentors youth to get more involved working backstage.

Highlights

August 2018

July 2024

August 2024

August 2024

Design Apprenticeship Program students joined My Block, My Hood, My City to create hand-painted block signs to display inspirational quotes and focus on uplifting language to demonstrate community pride and cohesion.

New Signs On The Block by Natalie Moore

The Backstage Production Program was featured on the WGN’s People to People hosted by Micah Materre, through a fellowship provided by the AAMPA Griot Lab.

The Teen Arts Council partnered with the South Side Home Movie Project to create banners inspired by scenes from the Bud Billiken Parade of the 1940s to 1960s. They proudly displayed these beautiful banners as they participated in the 95th annual Bud Billiken Parade

Design Apprenticeship Program II took on the challenge of designing and building a suite of furniture, all thoughtfully crafted to invite neighbors and commuters in Washington Park to relax and rest on the Arts Lawn during Homecoming, a public activation in collaboration with Gertie’s Next Stop: Chicago

Arts + Public Life Education offers programs in Backstage Production Design/build, performance, and arts leadership for teens ages 14-19, and takes an integrated, process-based approach to community engagement: these programs empower local youth to shape projects that reflect their South Side perspectives and positively impact their neighborhoods. Teens frequently engage in multiple programs, often returning for subsequent sessions or branching out to explore other programs within APL. Highly engaged teens have opportunities for further growth through internships, teaching assistant roles, and more.

90% of our teen participants live on the South Side

IN 2024 THERE WAS

a total of 145 teen participants
332 class sessions
270 direct instructional hours

100%

of teens who successfully completed the program received a stipend

What People Are Saying

“She really enjoys this program, [it’s] so great to see[.] [She’s] always excited to come here. It’s helped her gain more leadership skills. I’m happy she’s [decided] to go into mechanical engineering!”
- DAP Parent
What People Are Saying

“This program is helping me with my communication skills”
-DAP Teen
What People Are Saying

“It’s been an amazing thing to see him grow in his skillset and to watch his focus, leadership, creativity, energy, and drive in this program and to watch that develop”
-BSP Parent
What People Are Saying

“I am thankful to the staff and everyone for making this opportunity open for young people, because they need experiences that will open them up.”
-Parent
What People Are Saying

“I love working with all of you all!”
-Teen