Picture		A run–down, abandoned vacant lot (and you’re still in junior high)
Imagine		Building tile mosaic walkways  pouring glass–mosaic–topped concrete tables and benches  constructing 14–foot high birdhouses  plasma–cutting steel fence art and welding a glorious metal entry arch – all to turn that vacant lot into a handsome pocket park.

Each summer through Hit the Streets, Coyote forms partnerships with local businesses, landowners, community development and government agencies so that Central Area and South end youth can transform vacant lots, rundown storefronts, and unsightly façades into significant community landmarks.

The young artists of Hit the Streets, aged 12 to 15, spend five weeks with professional public artists as they design, fabricate, and install their artwork. They learn technical and vocational skills as they work in metal, concrete, glass, clay, wood, and Milestone. As with any real job, they fill out time sheets, set daily goals, meet deadlines, and earn a savings-account stipend.

Hit the Streets builds more than major public art installations. It builds enormous self-esteem for the participants as they operate plasma cutters and drill presses, pull off major problem solving, and become community heroes at the installation celebration. It builds community, community in action that inspires scores of individuals to pitch in and help in hundreds of ways.

Since 1992, Hit the Streets has installed 15 major projects in the Central Area. Young artists have:

		transformed the façade of the Dilettante Chocolate Factory;
		created the Isaiah Edwards Art Garden;
		handbuilt the ceramic surface of the 70-foot seat wall in Bradner Gardens Park;
		created the ceramic murals for the Medgar Evers Swimming Pool;
		fabricated the Central Area Milennium Tree;
		and constructed the urban totems in Gerber Park.

Take a tour of Coyote’s Hit the Streets projects from the last 10 years.