Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Inc.

This inflatable slide saw a lot of use during our last week of summer program! Rated a thumbs up!

Happy Friday, everyone!

In the last couple of weeks of our 2024 summer program, the Apprentices got to learn some of the fundamentals of trumpet-playing! You better believe lots of music was made!

(Photo credit: Seneca Wells)

"A Tale of Two Rivers," 2007
Life Pieces To Masterpieces
Acrylic on canvas collage
“A young man compares his hometown river (Anacostia River) to other bodies of water around the US. He thinks to himself, ‘Why is my river so dirty and polluted?’”

Here's a snapshot from this past weekend of one of our youngest Apprentices, a potter in training, learning from a mentor potter at Glen Echo Pottery!

We're so grateful to our friends at Glen Echo Pottery, who regularly welcome our Apprentices to their studio to teach them the art of pottery. With their guidance, our boys and young men are unlocking their innate creative abilities through creating ceramic masterpieces.

As you can see here, our boys are fascinated by every step of the process!

Photo credit: Seneca Wells

Summer playtime! Clapping games are always a favorite with our smallest LPTM Apprentices!

(Photo credit: Seneca Wells)

Mmm…pizza!

Our 2024 summer program has come to an end, and we're already missing our Apprentices -- and delicious lunches like these!

Photo credit: Seneca Wells

Another shot from LPTM's new program at HD Woodson High School, Basketball & Beyond! We've got some talented young athletes at Life Pieces, and Basketball & Beyond is a place for them to showcase their skills!

He shoots... He scores!!

LPTM's new program, Basketball & Beyond, has been a hit with our young Apprentices this summer!

This is the final week of our 2024 summer program. Stay tuned for photos from our upcoming final presentation!

"Trail Mix," 2014
Life Pieces To Masterpieces
Acrylic on canvas collage
"We may not see the growth of the seeds we sow, but we sow them just the same."

AICA is an amazing program, and we couldn't be prouder of this year's class!

LPTM is here at the 2024 Horizons Conference with our amazing longtime program participant, Brother Ricquan! We're so excited to share what we do with conference attendees! Together we highlight: "The Power of Us!"

Many thanks to Jobs for the Future for having us!

ZOOM! Last week, the older LPTM Apprentices went on a go-karting field trip! As you can see, they were pretty satisfied with the experience!

Also, in case you haven't heard: Orange Barrel Media has joined LPTM in celebrating our 28th anniversary by providing electronic billboards for us to showcase our work throughout DC! We're featured directly above the Chinatown-Gallery Place Station and right by the Navy Yard-Ballpark Station!

If you come across our billboards in your city travels, tag our account and/or the hashtag – the first 28 people to tag us with photos of our billboards will enter a raffle to win an original LPTM painting of their choice, OR a beautiful canvas print!

Big news, LPTM friends and family: Life Pieces has a solo art exhibition opening TOMORROW (7/19) at 12:00 PM at the Tamar Hendel Gallery, with ! And EVERYONE is invited to come check it out!

Click through to find the reception time and address! If you love our boys' beautiful artwork, we hope to see you there!

"Giving," 2007
Life Pieces To Masterpieces
Acrylic on canvas collage
"I love to share and give."

In case you haven't heard: Orange Barrel Media has joined LPTM in celebrating our 28th anniversary by providing electronic billboards for us to showcase our work throughout DC! Here's one of the paintings you can see on display on them! We're featured directly above the Chinatown-Gallery Place Station and right by the Navy Yard-Ballpark Station.

If you come across our billboards in your city travels, tag our account and/or the hashtag – the first 28 people to tag us with photos of our billboards will enter a raffle to win an original LPTM painting of their choice, OR a beautiful canvas print!

What an amazing shoutout from the Greater Washington Community Foundation! Thanks so much!

"At Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Inc., we have always believed that it is not about us giving power to our boys and young men, but, rather, we believe that they have the innate creative ability to transform their lives and to enact positive change in their communities and their world."

Continuing our recognition of Leaders of the Future, The Community Foundation is highlighting the work and mission of peacemakers who are working to empower children, youth and adults to build stronger, safer communities.

We asked Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Inc. to share how they are empowering young men through mentorship and creativity.

https://ow.ly/8yHF50SoKxP

We're happy to announce that last week, LPTM's Finance and Operations Director, Tamba Murray, graduated from Leadership Greater Washington's Rising Leaders program! He joins several other LPTM staff as a graduate of this incredible program!

Brother Tamba and all of LPTM are thankful to LGW, World Bank, and Crimsonbridge for sponsoring and supporting this amazing opportunity. We're excited to see how Brother Tamba will apply what he's learned! 🏆

Guess what? Today is our yearly FAMILY ART DAY! LPTM's Apprentices (our program participants) will participate in a variety of fun arts activities, including rock painting, getting caricatures done, dancing, mask-making, and more!

To make things even more exciting, the boys' families are also invited to participate in the activities with them!

We can't wait to see everyone at 12:30 PM today!

Also, in case you haven't heard: Orange Barrel Media has joined LPTM in celebrating our 28th anniversary by providing electronic billboards for us to showcase our work throughout DC! We're featured directly above the Chinatown-Gallery Place Station and right by the Navy Yard-Ballpark Station!

If you come across our billboards in your city travels, tag our account and/or the hashtag – the first 28 people to tag us with photos of our billboards will enter a raffle to win an original LPTM painting of their choice, OR a beautiful canvas print!

"Life Pieces To Masterpieces men are: Gentlemen! Scholars! Artists! ATHLEEEEETES!"

That's the LPTM vision, and last week our little athletes went bowling! For many of them, it was their first time trying out this fun sport. Great times were had by all!

Also, in case you haven't heard: Orange Barrel Media has joined LPTM in celebrating our 28th anniversary by providing electronic billboards for us to showcase our work throughout DC! We're featured directly above the Chinatown-Gallery Place Station and right by the Navy Yard-Ballpark Station!

If you come across our billboards in your city travels, tag our account and/or the hashtag – the first 28 people to tag us with photos of our billboards will enter a raffle to win an original LPTM painting of their choice, OR a beautiful canvas print!

Hey, LPTM friends and family! Look closely at these photos...notice anything familiar?

That's right, it's us: Life Pieces To Masterpieces, up in brilliant lights at the Metro! Orange Barrel Media has joined us in celebrating our 28th anniversary, providing electronic billboards to showcase our work throughout DC!

We have billboards in two locations: right above the Chinatown-Gallery Place Metro Station, and at 1201 Half St. SE – right by the Navy Yard-Ballpark Metro station on the Green Line, as well as Nationals Park!

If you come across our billboards in your travels, tag our account and/or use the hashtag – the first 28 people to tag us with photos of our billboards will enter a raffle to win an original LPTM painting of their choice, OR a beautiful canvas print!

We're so thankful to our friends at Orange Barrel Media for this fantastic opportunity!

LPTM's colorful halls and dedicated staff have been ready for our biggest-ever summer program - and it's kicked off without a hitch! Our Connecting Communities Across the Globe Summer Program started last week.

We are so excited to work, play, and learn with all of our 130 Apprentices this summer as we learn about the nations of Sierra Leone and South Korea!

"Leadership," 2007
Life Pieces To Masterpieces
Acrylic on canvas collage
"A good leader knows who, what, and how to follow. Now it’s my turn to lead."

Today, DC Celebrates Life Pieces To Masterpieces Day! Read more about it in our latest newsletter!

Today, DC Celebrates Life Pieces To Masterpieces Day Today is Life Pieces To Masterpieces Day in Washington, DC—a day that has been formally recognized by the city. Today, we celebrate our 28th anniversary—and we celebrate YOU, our LPTM family, for supporting our mission and vision over so many years.   Join us in the celebration! Be one of the ...

Recently, our LPTM teenagers did their Saturday Academy Presentation - an end-of-year showcase of the skills and crafts they've learned over the school year! Our young gentlemen facilitated amazing workshops demonstrating their acquired skills.

Pictured here is one of our young men helping one of our youngest Apprentices learn the art of screen printing! "Each one teach one" continues to be a core LPTM principle.

LPTM alumni and current college student Brother Tory'elle had the honor of delivering the commencement speech for Charles R. Drew Elementary School's graduating fifth grade class! Here he is with a current LPTM Apprentice from our Legacy class, who was one of Drew ES's graduates this year!

Brother Tory'elle's speech encouraged the young scholars to work hard for their dreams, and he talked about his own engineering major to motivate his listeners to be educated and pursue their passions.

Check out our latest newsletter: "Life Pieces To Masterpieces Day in Washington, DC!! June 26, 2024"

Life Pieces To Masterpieces Day in Washington, DC!! June 26, 2024 Next Wednesday, June 26th will be the first day of our largest ever summer program. It happens to also be....Life Pieces To Masterpieces Day! This dedication was formally recognized by the Mayor and DC City Council in a 2021 resolution for the city to honor the anniversary of our program's foundin...

"Monkey Trouble," 2014
Life Pieces To Masterpieces
Acrylic on canvas collage
"The monkey is sad because his family died, and he can't jump from tree to tree. There are less than 1,000,000 monkeys left in the world. We must keep them from danger."

LPTM Apprentices from our Legacy class (ages 10-12) are learning how to sew! Stay tuned for new acrylic-on-canvas collage artwork this summer, stitched together by the up-and-coming masters of the craft!

Check out our latest newsletter: "We always make sure that we're there for each other." -

"We always make sure that we're there for each other." On Wednesday, May 29, LPTM family and community members joined us for Spring 2024 Family Night: "Sowing Seeds of Creativity"! The 100+ guests in attendance enjoyed performances and presentations by each of our five classes, including a skit about innate creativity abilities by the Legacy class (ages...

One of our amazing LPTM alumni, Brother QueSton, is currently in South Africa and brought along Flat Tyrone! Here they are exploring some of the beautiful flora in their travels!

Flat Tyrone is our globe-trotting mascot who anyone in our LPTM family can bring with them on their international journeys. He serves as a representative of our boys as global citizens!

If you have any Flat Tyrone photos, please do send them to us! Going traveling soon and want a Flat Tyrone to accompany you? Send us a message and we'll make sure he gets to you!

"Loving," 2007
Life Pieces To Masterpieces
Acrylic on canvas collage
"I have learned to love myself, so that I can love you."