Community Partner: Art with a Heart
Peer Mentor: Lee Thompson
Site Supervisor: Christina Ralls
What is Art with a Heart?
Art with a Heart’s mission is to enhance the live of
people in need through visual art.
Tasks:
• Assist in teaching an art class for AWAH’s summer
job program
• Researched and tested samples to be used in art
class
• Oversaw AWAH’s store HEART wears during staff
meetings
• Helped organize fund donations for students in
AWAH’s summer job training program.
Working in Baltimore this summer for Art with a Heart has been the best job experience I've had thus far. I
was fortunate enough to have a very active role as an intern, learning all kinds of technical art skills as I
helped to make art samples and prepare for Art with a Heart's summer job training program. During this
program, I was able to teach as an assistant, helping young women to create marketable art and to learn job
skills needed for the professional world. Assistant teaching was definitely a learning experience for me. At
times I was faced with giving critiques of students' work (that would eventually be sold), and had to figure
out how to encourage my students to be patient and put a little extra care into their artwork. I knew that
teaching would prove to be a challenge, but in the end the experience was more than worthwhile. At the end
of the job training program, one of my students said to me, "Sometimes just looking at you made me want to
be nicer." I hadn't come into this program expecting to make an enormous difference, but in that moment it
felt like I had done something meaningful. ‐Lee
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