Youth from the William Donald Schaefer House with direction from various artists

In 2001, AVAM began the Community Mosaic Wall Project: a free, multi-year, multi-disciplinary arts apprenticeship program to benefit at-risk, underserved youth and the greater community. The resulting dramatic mirror, glass, and found-object mosaic adorns AVAM’s exterior walls — a prominent, permanent feature of the museum's architecture and the Baltimore skyline. The Shining Youth/Shining Walls Mosaics has received funding from the U.S Department of Education and Housing & Urban Development (HUD). The most recent participants come from William Donald Schaefer House, one of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services group facilities for boys, which provides treatment for substance abuse. Program participants are 16% white, 65% African-American and 19% Latino males ages 14-18, who are in school or preparing for the GED while undergoing treatment for substance abuse.