YouthBuild/IDEAS Announce Creation of 25 New Jobs for Young Adults in Smoketown’s Innovation Zone

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - July 11, 2015 - PRLog -- One year ago, IDEAS and YouthBuild Louisville (YBL) began working with the Smoketown community and strategic partners in and outside of Louisville, implementing arts and culture related strategies to expand YBL’s capacity to serve low-income young people in Louisville’s urban core. The initiative, called the Creative Innovation Zone (CIZ), was launched through a grant from ArtPlace America in August, 2014.

“We are proving how artist-innovators can become catalysts for building a resilient, vital economy. In Smoketown that means supporting new forms of workforce development for young people that produce positive educational, business enterprise and cultural outcomes,’ said IDEAS co-founder Theo Edmonds. “The ultimate goal of the CIZ is to help Smoketown emerge as a place of opportunity. From grade school age, to high school age, to young adults in their first job, we are working with YouthBuild to implement a system that directly supports the development of creative, compassionate citizens.”

Over the past twelve months, community members, private donors, the Smoketown Neighborhood Association, Metro Louisville Government, Kertis Creative, Louisville Metro Housing Authority, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, JP Morgan Chase, Bates Memorial, Coke Memorial, New Roots/Fresh Stop, General Electric, Chef Edward Lee, and a myriad of other stakeholders have come together to make the CIZ a reality.

In addition to local stakeholders, international partners also playing an important role in the CIZ include the Potager du Roi (King’s Kitchen Garden at Versailles, France) and Yale-China Association.

“We take a caring and responsible approach to ensure that all young people are prepared for adulthood,” said YouthBuild Louisville Executive Director Lynn Rippy, who founded the local chapter over 14 years ago. “Currently, for every dollar invested in a YouthBuild student, there is, at minimum, a $7.43 return on investment for the community. The purposeful inclusion of arts and culture across our organization has helped us think about things in new ways and to create new options for our young people. In one year, we have almost doubled our capacity.”

CIZ First Year Outcomes - Highlights

Establishment of the Urban Green program at YouthBuild.

·       Education: Starting this fall, 15 new “green-collar” pre-apprentice jobs leading to permanent employment.

·       Business Enterprise: Formation of a new commercial flower farm in Smoketown.

·       Cultural: International learning partnership with Potager du Roi (King’s Kitchen Gardens) at Versailles, FR. Includes an arts/agriculture leadership apprentice program for young adults in the YouthBuild program and an onsite urban farm in Smoketown.

Establishment of a culinary program at YouthBuild with Chef Edward Lee

·       Education: Starting this fall, 10 pre-apprentice jobs leading to permanent employment.

·       Business Enterprise: New, student run “pop up” restaurant coming in Fall 2015 and permanent new restaurant in Smoketown in 2016.

·       Cultural: An international learning partnership with the Yale-China Association. Includes artist-residencies and workshops focusing on issues related to food systems.

Creation of New Public Green Spaces

·       The GE Smoketown Streetscape in October, 2014 was a partnership between GE, YBL and almost 20 organizations who came together to change the physical environment on Preston Street between Broadway and Breckenridge. Over 1,000 volunteers came together to create The People’s Park, dig tree wells, install bicycle racks and cross walks, and plant over 150 trees.

Cultural Programs

·       Establishment of the Steam Exchange

o   An artist-run startup based in Smoketown that works to change STEM to STEAM by using art to teach science, technology, engineering and math.

o   In the first 10 months alone Steam Exchange provided over 2,030 youth arts interactions.

o   Awarded a Kentucky Foundation for Women 2015 Art Meets Activism grant. They will collaborate with the Smoketown neighborhood community to create a mural that tells the history of the neighborhood through the stories of multiple generations of female residents.

o   Through a partnership with Louisville Metro Housing Authority, and support by Metro United Way, YBL and Hal and Hal Construction, the Steam Exchange is renovating an old liquor store at the corner of Clay and Finzer to create a community-focused art space that will also host their tool share program. (steamexchange.org)

·       Establishment of Smoketown Arts Series

o   Multiple community-based arts activities and projects with partners including Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville Visual Art Association, The Kentucky Center, and many local artists.

§  Dance workshop with the Dance Theatre of Harlem at Bates Memorial Church.

§  Tough & Universal – a portrait series inspired by the work of poet James Baldwin that depicted Smoketown residents and stakeholders.

o   Developed a prototype coding program that will be scaled up in the Fall 2015 to develop a new online site for connecting young people in urban Louisville to resources in the arts.

·       Establishment of Roots & Wings Performance Group

o   Spoken word artists, DJs, dancers, and performers came together last October in the CIZ to create The Smoketown Poetry Opera

o   Recently produced the West End Poetry Opera at the Kentucky Center.

o   Together with added partners including Bridge-Kids International, The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts and The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, Roots & Wings are currently a national finalist in the running for a $280,000 2015 ArtPlace America grant.

·       Establishment of a Mechanics Training Program for Young Women

o   CIZ leaders engaged Louisville-based artist Sarah Lyon, a photographer and motorcycle mechanic, to teach a female empowerment workshop in Smoketown where participants are building a motorcycle from the ground up.

In addition to the presentation by CIZ leaders on Saturday, Smoketown Arts Festival will also feature arts activities for young people, carving and casting demonstrations by Hong Kong artist Parry Ling, learning lab booths and performances by River City Drum Corp., a performance of West End Poetry Opera by Root & Wings, and Hong Kong dancer Hao Yang followed by the premiere of Lavel White’s documentary, “More Than Bricks and Mortar: Smoketown A New Beginning.