ArtForceIowa uses arts to engage troubled youths
Michelle Jackson was hungry, homeless and jobless when she learned about ArtForceIowa.
With a juvenile criminal record and more than two years of incarceration in her past, finding and keeping a job was next to impossible for Jackson, who is now 25. After being hired a year ago by ArtForceIowa through a jobs training program, she now works full time for the organization, which she considers to be her “family.”
Founded by a small group of artists in 2012, ArtForceIowa is an arts outreach organization in Des Moines that connects young offenders with artist-mentors who use music, art and theater to engage with them and help them move past their criminal backgrounds. Many of the programs are led by professional Iowa artists and musicians who are contracted by the organization.
Located just east of North High School, ArtForceIowa serves youths from schools throughout Central Iowa. Its core program, Creative Pathways, provides ongoing life skills and training workshops for students who are referred by the courts. Some 65 to 80 students per year are enrolled in the after-school program.
Jackson’s involvement with ArtForceIowa through a training program called Lift Off led to her being hired by StreetCred Studios, a new venture the nonprofit launched this spring. The program employs and provides job training for young adults who have been in trouble with the law. She has since become the program manager for StreetCred Studio’s screen printing operation.
“Because of my criminal background it had been years since I’d had a job,” said Jackson, who before being hired through ArtForce was spending her nights sleeping in a Des Moines park. “I would get hired and then the next day they’d say, ‘We’re sorry, we can’t keep you because of your background.’ ”
John Mark Feilmeyer was hired to lead the fledgling organization while he was working for a nonprofit group in West Africa, and had led the nonprofit as executive director since January 2013 until announcing this month he would be leaving to work for another nonprofit in Mali. The organization announced on Oct. 3 its new executive director, Cyndi Pederson, who is currently chief operating officer of the Des Moines Social Club and former director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
Feilmeyer said the organization takes a “narrow net” approach by serving the hardest-to-help youths who are referred by the courts.
“Our mission is to transform youth in need through art, and when we have successes like Michelle, it’s amazing,” he said. “We want to see all of our kids be as successful.”
StreetCred Studios is one of two new programs the organization has launched this year. Earlier this year, ArtForceIowa received a three-year grant from the Victim Services Office of the Iowa attorney general to serve immigrant and refugee youth. That new program, called DSM Heroes, will help immigrant students dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
ArtForceIowa’s Creative Pathways program is beginning to make an impact, according to figures from its latest annual report. For each of the past two years, ArtForceIowa has significantly reduced recidivism rates for its participants, who are typically referred to the program by judges and court officers. The recidivism rate of ArtForceIowa participants is 27.3 percent, compared with 36.3 percent for Polk County youth offenders as a whole.
Additionally, seven of eight youths in the program who were seniors this year graduated from high school. “That’s a remarkable statistic given that studies show between 30 and 40 percent of youth who were incarcerated during school will drop out of school,” Feilmeyer said.
The nonprofit was initially funded by a two-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. That got the organization on its feet to start its flagship program, Creative Pathways, which integrates art into developing life and work skills.
“Basically the idea is that there a lot of pathways in how you can live and be successful, and that you can follow your passions,” Feilmeyer said. “That’s what we wanted them to learn from it.”
Meeting weekly in a large-group format, the kids take part in various types of exercises that incorporate art into life lessons.
“A good example of a group activity is talking about job interviews and doing some theater exercises,” Feilmeyer said, “because at a job interview you are kind of acting; you’re putting on your best self. Teaching them that through theater is a really good way to get their attention.”
In another Creative Pathways workshop, students are led through abstract painting exercises in which they’re challenged to imagine and then paint their “best place” emotionally, and to think about how they can shift their moods.
StreetCred Studios, which employs people ages 16 to 24 who have criminal records, takes participants through all aspects of running a screen printing business. Working with the Children & Families of Iowa’s Connected Careers program, StreetCred employees are required to take various workforce training, customer service and financial literacy courses in addition to the hands-on work they get in printing T-shirts and other products.
James Fox, one of three production assistants currently employed by StreetCred Studios, was offered the job by Feilmeyer while he was still in juvenile detention.
“I wanted to do something productive, but I wanted it to be art-based,” said Fox, who has enrolled this fall at Grand View University with the goal of earning a graphic arts degree. Working 35 hours a week at $9 an hour for StreetCred Studios, he has also learned to use Adobe Illustrator and has improved his writing skills, he said.
“My goal is to be self-employed as a graphic designer and basically be doing my own thing,” Fox said.
Feilmeyer said he’d like to bring on mentors from the business community to work with StreetCred’s employees.
“The reality is, these kids need people on their side,” he said. “Even after four months working for StreetCred, they still have trouble getting a job because of their background, so they need advocates for them.”
Though StreetCred Studios has had successes in developing relationships with nonprofits seeking a nonprofit alternative for printing T-shirts and other items, connecting with the adult correctional system for referrals to the program has been a challenge, Feilmeyer said.
“So far, it’s been hard to get the interest of the correctional system,” he said. “We serve three people at a time, but we could expand that, especially if people start ordering more shirts from us. We’re still trying to determine how to best hire, given the ebb and flow of orders.”
Feilmeyer said StreetCred Studios is beginning to get into video production services for organizations as another program element and revenue source.
“We want StreetCred to be successful and to support the nonprofit — that’s the dream,” he said. “It’s a business, but the benefit is we’ve been able to start it with grants, not loans, so we’ve been able to build it up.” In September Streetcred approached $10,000 in screenprinting sales; it needs to generate at least $15,000 a month to start contributing to the nonprofit’s bottom line, Feilmeyer said.
The true value of the program is probably best defined by the people it serves, like Michelle Jackson.
“It’s definitely an emotional job,”Jackson said. “A lot of people who come in (as StreetCred employees) tug at my heartstrings, because a year ago I was there doing it. But it’s also rewarding, to see them find a better option in their life. … It’s important to me that they see me not only as a boss but someone they can talk to, because I’ve been there.”
DSM Heroes to help young immigrants deal with PTSD
ArtForceIowa recently began conducting workshops for its newest program, DSM Heroes. “Our full-time director for that program is having no trouble finding kids who need support,” outgoing Executive Director John Mark Feilmeyer said.
DSM Heroes participants will also complete a post-traumatic stress survey as they’re enrolled to gauge how serious their PTSD is, and to track whether their symptoms decline as they progress through the program, he said.
“We’re looking at goals of improved quality of life, improved academic performance. It’s about creating that supportive relationship to help them to be successful in the rest of life.”