The TeenHQ at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library was bustling with eagerness on the afternoon of July 26, 2025. Handmade products, from crocheted chickens to fidget toys, were lined neatly on multiple different stands, and they were selling out fast. Most notably, the sellers behind these stands weren’t entrepreneurs with full-time jobs. They were ARTrepeneurs, also known as teenagers on summer break.
Jessica Lundin, the program leader, explained: “ARTrepeneurs started out as a a grant that we got through the California State Library to try and get teens interested in starting small businesses or doing arts as a career path.”
Through the help of the San José Public Library Foundation, the library additionally received support to collaborate with WeThrive, a program providing seed funding and an entrepreneurship curriculum to teach youth how to start their own business.
These partnerships culminated in the Teen ARTrepeneur summer program. In the first month, students would come to four sessions in total and hone their entrepreneurial skills. The second was spent creating their products. Finally, a marketplace event marked the end of the program, where teens gained experience pitching and selling their products.
The library provided many resources for teens to explore their projects, many of which were found in the Makerspace of TeenHQ. “Some people used our button makers, some people used our resident supplies,” Jessica detailed. “They had access to our 3D printers and our poster printer.”
Additionally, every teenager had access to seed funding: “They get $75 to spend on supplies so that they have basically a start for their business,” Jessica said.
Most recently, the ARTrepeneur Teen Pop-up Market held at the King Library was a booming success. As a beginner opportunity for teens to promote and sell their products, the market proved to be a valuable experience for many.
“It’s been great to start a business and start making money that I can save and spend,” a participant of the program said. “I’ve been used to selling through my mom’s Facebook account, and this is the only in-person event I get to do. The program definitely teaches you how to sell and approach customers, and also how to price your products.”
Programs like Teen ARTrepeneurs inspire youth to fulfil their wildest dreams by providing them with the resources and the path to do so. Thanks to the initial funding of the Foundation, the opportunity to become an ARTrepeneur is available every summer.
Written by Jillian Cheng, Communications Intern