Catanese: I love TASK and I love everything the soup kitchen does there.

It's very welcoming.

The soup kitchen makes everybody feel welcome.

Kisela: We were going to the soup kitchen.

They said there's an art group.

So I joined the art group and I've been going there ever since.

I've been doing seascapes 'cause I like the ocean.

I just like being out there amongst the people, amongst the seagulls, listen to the ocean waves.

Lettieri: Art is, in my opinion, so deeply ingrained in what it means to be human.

Whether it's music, whether it's writing, whether it's painting.

It's a beautiful thing, and I'm happy to be here.

Chessman: I didn't want to come down here because I had no idea what a soup kitchen was.

I just had in my head, like the Great Depression, everybody's standing up in the food court or something.

But then somebody said, "Nah, man, they got music.

They have art.

They have -- they have all these programs."

So I went down here and I was blown away.

It's kind of a recurring theme.

I was telling Frank about that.

It's like a dark forest with a path or a stairway or something that leads into mystery.

It's kind of like me coming out of the darkness, wanting to go toward the light.

Carol: I wanted to be an artist.

I wanted to go to art school.

and my mother said there was no money in the art, that she wanted me to be a hairdresser.

I think first, then draw it, and then paint it.

That was my dream, to be an artist.

Catanese: First, we give them a place to feel safe and to create their art.

We don't tell them how to make the art or what to do.

It's more, here's your blank canvas.

I want to see what's coming out from inside you.

Now, if they have questions technically like how do I make this happen?

More than happy to be there and help them out with that.

But mostly I want to get what they have inside out to the world.

Gary: We're going to go back a few years, you know, end up getting displaced.

So I was sleeping in my car for a while, right?

I had a job, I lost my job, and I was drawing every day.

Draw, draw, draw.

And, um, like, all, all the, like, the negative bad things just kind of went away.

Even during times, people -- A guy told me, he said, "Yo, you need to stop wasting your time drawing."

I'm like, [scoffs] "whatever, yo."

I just kept drawing and drawing and getting better and better and yeah, that's how I ended up with the A-Team, you know?

But I called myself Solo, though, because during all that time my mother passed away.

She passed away about two years ago.

I have a lot of friends that passed away.

My nephew passed away.

Uh, he was 22.

I loved that boy like a brother.

Loved him like a son, you know?

My dad's gone.

If we were a platoon, if I was platoon, I'm the last soldier standing.

And that's why I call myself Solo.

[ Music plays ] Catanese: So this is Studio 51.

It's an old carriage house from the 1800s that they converted into an art studio.

And really, this is because at Soup Kitchen, we have the one day art program, and sometimes that's just not enough.

You know, you really want, if the artists are excited, they want to do something.

So TCAT, once they became a non-profit, got this building, and they converted it into a two story art studio, and we provide them with all the materials they need, all the canvases, paints, anything like that.

We have Art All Day event here, which is a city-wide event where there is a trolley that goes around all the different art studios and art exhibits.

Rainbow: I started showing with the A-Team and working with them like maybe in the early 2000s.

But you know, I really think it's important, you know, for everyday people to have access to art.

And really, you know, I think there's something powerful in doing art for art's sake and really doing art as a healing practice.

You know what I mean?

Kisela: "Leaves were falling all around.

I like fall..." Rainbow: I've seen a lot of people come through the A-Team and really develop their own unique styles and really take it to the next level.

Man: It is so original and it captivated my eye.

I believe Charles did a fantastic job making this painting.

I'm happy to get this one for my collection.

Smith: My name is Charles Smith, and I'm working on, like, a world.

It's like a creation about the world, the ships and stuff.

Like a future vision of this world.

You know, it was like a puzzle to me at the first time I was doing it, you know.

Then I learned how to do it, and it comes out nice.

Catanese: The reason I love doing this is seeing their art up on the walls and seeing people react to it.

Beatty: Thank you for having us.

Thank you.

Catanese: I think it's a super boost.

Every time we have an exhibit or something, the next art program, next week everybody's super productive and excited and ready to get more art out there so people can experience their lives through their art.

Beatty: I love painting, making things, creating, making people smile.

I've been here since the '90s, like 1990.

Me, Shorty, we've been here since then.

Catanese: Trenton Community A-Team is the artists.

They started this.

Now, Herman "Shorty" Rose, he was one of the founding members of Trenton Community A-Team.

He started doing art and I guess his art, again, as art does, was drawing people in.

[ Hip-hop plays ] Lewis: When I first started going to the soup kitchen, it was to get meals.

Because during that time I was going through a little struggle in my life, and then I just joined the art team and it became a passion.

Once I got in there and realized that I don't have to do art to please other people.

Whatever I put down, that's my art and my vision.

Frails: I volunteered with the church, going to the soup kitchen, and I fell in love with the soup kitchen.

Then later on, I found out it was an art class.

Oh, what a blessing.

So that got me into my art.

And I just -- just a joy to be around the artists.

It's something that seems to be about these people, you know?

We connect.

They're lovely people.

Chessman: This place has a soul.

It is a space that looks past the need of the person and instead it nourishes that person.