In 2016, StreetCred Studios came to life through the Ignite Community Innovation Challenge through the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines. The Ignite Community Innovation Challenge was a grant award designed to encourage nonprofit organizations to re-think, re-frame, and re-imagine how they carry out their missions. 

Inspired by Homeboy Industries, the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, StreetCred Studios started as a training program and social enterprise to lift employment obstacles for young adults with criminal backgrounds. We operated as a full-service screen-printing shop by providing training in graphic design, entrepreneurship, and work skills. We hoped that the young adults in the program would find a better paying job or pursue higher education after receiving six months of training with the studio. Profits from screen printing sales supported our mission to create opportunities for youth to transform through art. In 2019, we paused this program because our impact wasn’t where we hoped it would be. Young adults in our programs weren’t finding better paying jobs and weren’t pursuing higher education. 

After six years, we are relaunching StreetCred Studios.

StreetCred Studios continues to be a community-focused social enterprise powered by ArtForce Iowa. Instead of screen printing, we offer specialized services from photography to videography, from arts-based workshops to organizational team-building workshops, from graphic design to art commission services. Every project helps fund free arts-based workshops for over 1,200 youth each year and offers our young people the opportunity to explore their creativity and develop their skills. 

We work across art mediums to explore and collaborate to uncover and create something new. Preserve what matters to you in the most meaningful way. When you invest with us, you get a team of professional artists who prioritize:

• A personalized experience rooted in authenticity and transparency

• High-quality artistry in storytelling and preserving your most cherished moments

• Extra time to work through the creative process

• An experience tailored to meet your unique needs

Your Story. Our Passion. Lasting Legacy.

Who is ArtForce Iowa?

ArtForce Iowa is a 501c3 nonprofit focused on creating opportunities for youth to transform through art. We provide arts-based, healing-centered workshops for students, training for adults and community-building efforts to build a kinder world where youth have a safe space to express themselves creatively and have access to creative tools to design their own healing journey. Young people in our programs have involvement in the juvenile justice system, whether they are labeled delinquent, CINA (child in need of assistance), or in custody of the Iowa Department of Human Services (unhoused, in shelter, or foster care). We also serve young people who identify as refugees or immigrants who have experienced trauma.