TOLEDO, Ohio — It's one thing to learn how to hone your craft, but actually making a living by selling things you make with your own hands is a whole other ballgame.
Toledo School for the Arts students in the ARTforce program are paid to make art that is then sold to the public.
"It's amazing to see somebody so young, so inspired, and be able to take these pieces and create original pieces of art and some of them don't have art training," Grace Parr, the ARTforce supervisor said. "Some of them aren't art majors, there's dancers within the group. So to be able to see that talent with these raw materials is just really cool."
The students make and sell everything from plates to jewelry to home decor items. Right now, the students are making jewelry with fused glass. The glass comes in flat sheets that are fused together in a kiln.
The finished work is sold in the school store, which is open to the public.
"To see the people buy it and see the joy on people's faces, it's really nice," Izabella Walls, a senior at TSA said.
Parr said it's an opportunity for the students to get a jumpstart on a potential career in art or at the very least make a little cash.
"I went to school for art and I'm a working artist myself and to be able to have this opportunity at their disposal where they can learn to make these things and market their own work is a huge deal," Parr said.
Walls said ARTforce breaks down barriers for students who want to be able to sell their work.
"There's not a ton of opportunities to do what you love and make money for it and they have the space at TSA so they don't usually have a ride to go anywhere, they're already here," Walls said.
The community can come in and shop at the school store, located inside the Portal on Adams Street. It's open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.
ARTforce will also be selling art at the Crosby Festival of the Arts at the Toledo Botanical Garden from June 28-30. On June 29, ARTforce will host a family craft tent where kids can make art alongside the students.