Our wish list this year is more focused on art supplies and materials that we really will need for the Mint Creative Summer Jobs program and for our free arts and crafts for families. So please browse and buy for us so we can support creative children and youth: 8 x 10 inch canvases, used for artist self portraits and more larger stretched canvases, especially 18 x 24 inches table easels and full-size easels Origami paper mosaic grout paper towels clean rags child-friendly wipes, to clean up children’s and adults hands after crafts glitter glue water color paint kits acrylic paints, especiall ..read more

Practice singing your own praises to a sympathetic audience. (Photo: Daniel Avocado / Unsplash) If you are someone who shivers and shies away from sharing your accomplishments, you need a boost to boast. And if you have trouble talking about your wins in job interviews, you need this blog post. And you may need to create a brag sheet or brag book for yourself. These may be helpful for job interviews, for college admissions and more. We know they will be useful to youth artists who are interviewing for the Mint Creative Summer Jobs program or as an intern. “If you want to … talk about your acc ..read more

Trinity Brown met De’Shaia Ventour in Mint’s Learn and Earn program, when they were around 14 years old. Their artistic friendship continues even as their career paths diverge. Trinity is working toward a career as a jeweler and an entrepreneur, while De’Shaia focuses on one in criminal justice. And Mint Artists’ Alexis Bagley and Oluwaseyi Akintoroye met through Mint’s Summer Creative Jobs and have remained close friends and occasional study buddies, though they attend different universities.  These friendships represent two of the many female friendships planted and grown at Mint Artist ..read more

It was a year of many many firsts, from trash to treasure competitions to STEAM art programs to our first art workshops for adults and teens. And it was another year of growth and development for Mint Artists Guild, one that gave youth opportunities to lead and share their skills with children and other young emerging artists. This success by the numbers post showcases some of that, but for a richer view of our growth, check out our YouTube and our Instagram and our blog posts. Here’s our success statistics for 2023: $41,300 – Record money earned by Mint youth artists in the summer jobs, arts ..read more

Mint Artists Guild has more art and art-full items at more independent shops and galleries than ever before. This makes it easier to buy Mint cards or a coloring book or even a print and pick up books or more. Most of our items are created in the Mint Creative Summer Jobs program, and your purchases help us to hire more creative youth every year. And with the holidays ahead, we want to help you shop indie and buy local as you support Mint Artists Guild and our growing array of programs and initiatives. So here’s a list of where to go for our art cards and bookmarks and so much more: Book shops ..read more

Chillin’ the Bunny, the standout Sunflower Sisters and the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle all show up as characters on Mint’s art cards. Their stories may be seen through the card’s diverse imagery or imagined by hundreds of buyers and guests at our events. But the characters behind the cards – the artists who created them –  their stories have not been told. Until now. Mint’s first card debuted in 2016, the year of our birth, and is called Starry, Starry Night over Detroit. It was created by alumni Maisha Rahman, who now works as an illustrator and graphic designer. She ..read more

Mermaids and filmmakers and a pitch competition, oh my. Mint Artists Guild’s summer of firsts has taken us into strange and delightful terrain, and under the Belle Isle Bridge.  We told you about the first batch of first-ever activities earlier and those came through beautifully. This next batch is even more creative and you may be able to buy or engage with some of the fruits of them at our fall and winter events. Read on and marvel at our wilingness. to jump into the new and the next. This Mint print by Saliha Shah was developed in Mint Summer Jobs in Jessica Fligger’s lithography works ..read more

Mint Artists Guild is growing like our namesake herb, and we are keeping it fresh too. So we have many first-time activities that we’re launching this year. And many of them take us to more people and places than ever before. Here’s a preview: Art Factory. Mint and other Detroit organizations are working with the Huron – Clinton Metroparks to bring more art and other activities to Detroit this summer. For the first time, we are offering an art workshop series for teens and adults in Detroit. The first one Contemporary Painting from the Spirit was led by Mint Artists / alumni Dayana Juarez. Th ..read more

We see a lot of color and a lot of happy children this summer. And we want your help to make this vision a reality. Our 2023 wish list overflows with arts and crafts supplies – and also a few items that the Mint artists in the Creative Summer Jobs program will need. As we grow, we need more materials and supplies, and so this year, we have a big list online at Target. We chose Target because the retailer gives back and because it carries so many things we need. But if you prefer to buy items at Arts & Scraps or a garage sale, we welcome that too. This year, our arts and crafts will take pl ..read more

We keep growing, and serving and giving creative opportunities to Detroit children, youth and adults. Mint Artists Guild’s growth in 2022 has been as big and beautiful as the gardens that flourish nearby Detroit neighborhoods of Palmer Woods and Sherwood Forest. We worked together on art and arts and crafts in all kinds of weather and in many Detroit neighborhoods – East Side, West Side, downtown and beyond. We are blooming with creativity and generosity, as you will read in this year’s Success by the numbers report. $32,015 – money earned by Mint Artists and interns in our Creative Summer Job ..read more