On Sunday, October 4, teens and their parents gathered at Piece by Piece to sort glass, prepare supplies, and spend time together at our first teen volunteer day. This new program, held on the first Sunday of every month, offers teens a hands-on way to support our community of mosaic artists.
Their work helps Piece by Piece provide free mosaic art workshops for residents and veterans of South Los Angeles and Skid Row. Piece by Piece artists include individuals experiencing homelessness, economic insecurity, trauma, or loss. Through mosaic-making, they have opportunities to heal, build confidence, find community, and earn income.
Volunteers chose from several activities that help prepare our popular Art-in-a-Box kits: sorting glass, cutting cloth, refilling paint and glue, and pairing safety gloves. Alejandro, our volunteer coordinator, guided everyone through each task so they could work safely and comfortably. Along the way, we chatted about Piece by Piece, Halloween costume ideas, and plans for the holiday season.
Maggie, our Executive Director, also led a tour of our social enterprise. Volunteers learned about commissions ranging from mosaic awards for employee recognition to large wall-sized murals. Interested in acustom mosaic commission? Reach out to us here to learn more.
By the end of the day, these amazing volunteers had:
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Sorted about 25 pounds of repurposed tesserae—the small pieces used to create mosaics—for a community project
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Refilled more than 110 glue cups and 60 paint cups
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Cut and folded more than 80 cleaning rags from cloth
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Paired more than 200 safety gloves
To everyone who joined us on October 4th, thank you for the time and care you put into each task. Those prepared materials help keep our free workshops running, giving artists a welcoming, safe space to create and connect.
We’d love to welcome you to a future volunteer day. Contact Alejandro at volunteer@piecebypiece.org to learn about upcoming opportunities, and follow @piecebypiecela on Instagram for updates.
We hope to see you there!
