ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (August 7, 2019) — Portraits and stories from the Village of Milan were captured this summer by photography students from the Metro Arts Youth Apprenticeship program with direction from lead artist Clint Balsar. Similar to the popular Humans of New York photoblog series, photography students traversed through the town and collected interesting stories and photographs along the way, in an attempt to capture the spirit and essence of the people of Milan. The portraits along with the captured stories are now on display at Finn’s Fun Spot in Milan, Illinois, Cool Beanz Coffeehouse in Rock Island, Illinois, and Milltown Coffee Shop in Moline, Illinois, through the end of September.
Metro Arts is a youth apprenticeship program through Quad City Arts, that gives artistically talented young adults age 15-21 paid internships in the arts that enhance the entire community. This spring and summer, 104 apprentices completed eight public art projects, including murals in Davenport, Rock Island and Bettendorf, photography in Milan, sculpture at the FIGGE in Davenport and street art projects throughout Bettendorf. The photography project was funded by a grant from the Grant W Brissman and Virginia Brissman foundation, that supports community development in the Village of Milan. Other funders for the 2019 Metro Arts program include: The John Deere Foundation, the City of Bettendorf, the City of Rock Island, the Downtown Davenport Partnership, Friendship Manor, the Figge Art Museum, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. For more information on this program and completed projects, visit: www.quadcityarts.com/metro
