Metro Arts Youth Apprenticeship Applications Open now!

METRO ARTS YOUTH APPRENTICESHIP APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2026 PROGRAM OPEN THROUGH APRIL 12, 2026.

​Metro Arts provides area youth ages 15-21 with a five-week paid summer apprenticeship. These apprentices will create community arts projects that positively impact the community, including mural and street painting as well as poetry. 

MURAL PAINTING & STREET ART
Under local professional muralists, apprentices collaborate with clients to design and paint vibrant murals or street art around the Quad Cities.  Apprentices will get feedback from clients on design elements, then work as a team of artists to create two or more concepts to be presented. Once a design has been approved by the client, the apprentices will spend 4 weeks painting the mural or street art installation on-site. Note: these projects are likely to be outdoors, and require apprentices to spend extended time in the elements, including direct sun, extreme heat, humidity, rain, etc., and involve lifting and possible work on scaffolding or lifts. 

POETRY
Apprentices will work closely with a professional poet and educator to learn the art of poetry, both on the page and the stage. This year’s poetry group will be two-pronged, as apprentices will learn the craft of poetry writing for both posterity and performance. Under the guidance of our lead artist, poets will collaborate with our Murals/Street Art team to create pieces that will be incorporated into the public art being created. They’ll also create pieces for spoken word performance at venues throughout the Quad Cities. 

This year’s Metro Arts program will start on Monday, June 8 and end on Thursday, July 9. Apprentices will meet for up to four hours Monday through Thursday. The program is meant to provide access to the arts, accepting entry level artists, with all supplies and equipment provided by Quad City Arts and its partners. To date, this year’s partners include the Illinois Arts Council, the City of Rock Island, and the Brissman Foundation. Lead artists for this year’s program include Sarah Robb (Murals/Street Painting) and Aubrey Barnes (Poetry), and projects will be happening in Rock Island, Davenport, and Milan.

In addition to honing apprentices’ artistry, Metro Arts teaches applicants the beginnings of the business skills needed to succeed in the arts. From a competitive interview process to client proposals and pitches, Metro Arts can be the start of a young artist’s pipeline into the professional world. Quad City Arts’ Director of Community Engagement Ben Gougeon sites that a number of Metro apprentices go on to have showings around town or receive Arts Dollars grants as they continue their work in their chosen field.

Gougeon states that in addition to Metro’s impact on young artists, it has also “…been a study in collaboration with non-profits, municipalities, and the private sector for over 25 years. Public art doesn’t happen by magic. It takes a lot of people working together to manifest a vision. Time, interest, funding; these all need to align to get a Metro Arts program off the ground. But, as Sarah [Robb] and I like to say, ‘Where there’s a wall, there’s a way.’”

APPLY TODAY

​​Metro Arts is celebrating its 26th year in 2026, and the ripples from 2025, the program’s silver anniversary, are still reverberating. Art is Work, the documentary film created by Documentary Filmmaking apprentices and lead artist Stacy Barton, is currently appearing in film festivals around the region. It also had multiple airings on WQPT.

WATCH ART IS WORK

CONTACT:
Ben Gougeon, Director of Community Engagement
[email protected] | 309.793.1213 ext. 100










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