How would you explain your organization in 300 words or less?
Since 2017, Kiez Mobil has been offering bi-monthly glass fusing workshops for children led by instructors in English and German. To date, we’ve been lucky to work with extraordinary kids at refugee homes, youth clubs, community centres and art galleries. This unusual opportunity for kids from diverse backgrounds encourages confidence and creativity whilst forming bonds among workshop leaders and participants.
How did this program begin?
County-led effort to find a solution for methane gas leaking from county landfill.
What is unique about the community you serve?
Fusing glass together with heat is an ancient technique that involves decorating a glass plate with layers of small cut, coloured glass that the children learn to cut themselves. Each workshop is devised around a particular theme, be it related to the seasons, inspired by local events or experimenting with a specific technique. At the end of the session the panels are collected in a box and taken to the Berlin Glas studio to be fired overnight in a kiln at 780° C. The result is a colourful artwork that is sent back to the children the next day.
How are you keeping your program financially sustainable & what strategies do you recommend?
The Bullseye Glass Company donated all the glass and supplies for the Kiez Mobil, and we receive funding from the German Children’s Relief Agency. We are also funded through private donations.
What impact are you seeing & how do you measure success?
We have fused more than 500 panels since we started in 2018! In that same year, we were invited by the KW: Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin to be part of the youth programme during the 10th Berlin Biennial. In 2019, we were invited to give a workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Duesseldorf. However, nothing is as representative of the success of this programme as when the children scream with delight when we arrive rushing to wheel this sweet, [not so] little cart into the activity room!
How has the outbreak of COVID-19 impacted your program, if at all?
We created the Kiez Mobil To-Go box for the our project partners, since they have had experience watching us teach the classes. It’s a cardboard box with all the supplies needed, instructions for the facilitator, and our colouring book about the Kiez Mobil.