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Mentorship May 11, 2017
Driving through Skid Row, it’s easy to feel like you’re in another world – just a few streets away is the growing Arts District. Between the hustle and rubble on the streets, you may notice that one building looks completely out of place.
Stepping out of the sun and inside the elegant and modern Piece by Piece building blocks out the sounds of the outside. We were greeted and taken upstairs into an outdoor, covered area. I was not able to visit the Piece by Piece organization the first time our intern team went, so this was my first glimpse at it. Not knowing much about the place, it was confusing at first, as there were in-progress mosaics everywhere and people milling around or working hard at their projects.
Piece by Piece aims to provide a fun, therapeutic activity – creating mosaics – to the homeless. By taking recycled mosaic pieces, they blanket wide poles and broad rectangular wooden blocks with beautifully tiled designs. The pieces look absolutely amazing, and as if they were done by professionals.
About seven of the Entity Los Angeles Editorial interns were able to go to Piece by Piece – we were tasked with making a mosaic of our black, white and gold logo – “E\TITY.” The whole activity was relaxing and therapeutic – it also helped that the ladies who helped us were very encouraging of our amateur work.
Being around all the colorful and vibrant mosaics that were already made, at the beginning I felt like our logo piece was not as colorful and fun, but the simple colors used definitely made the elegant logo pop.
Piece by Piece is always working on projects and looking for help. If you ever want to pick up a new hobby, making mosaics is the way to go. Not only is it calming (as making a mosaic is not stressful at all, if you’re doing a simple design), but you’re also learning a form of art that’s usually anyone’s first choice. Churches and many art projects around the world have used mosaics for centuries to make breath-taking designs on buildings and walls, and Piece by Piece is looking to make this art available to anyone who wants to try.
