WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Pepco Edison Place Gallery is now hosting "Lifting Off: Teen Artists Making A Difference," which features new artwork created for the Kids with Food Allergies Division of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

The exhibit also includes a work in progress to be installed at the Union Kitchen under construction in the northeast Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Ivy City. The mosaic piece is intended to bring awareness to the power of food and art to create culture, community and employment opportunities throughout the District.

The exhibit was developed by Arts on the Block (AOB), which provides job training through the visual arts to creative youth in the D.C. area. The artists are in residency, which gives visitors the opportunity to meet and watch the apprentices creating art. The artwork is a collaboration of the participants in AOB programs over the last 12 years and individual artworks by AOB alumni and a dozen Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program enrollees, who are guided by teaching artists Sonal Sheth and Athena Corbin.

The exhibit will close with a reception 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, catered by Union Kitchen featuring Union Kitchen Members Dirty South Deli, Quickstep Catering, and Haute Saison.

The Pepco Edison Place Gallery is open with free admission noon to 4 p.m. each Tuesday through Friday and is located at 702 Eighth St., NW, Washington, DC. For more information and updates, visit www.pepco.com, follow us on Facebook and Twitter at PepcoConnect, and download our mobile app at www.pepco.com/mobileapp.

About Arts on the Block: Arts on the Block is the only organization in the Washington, DC area offering youth the opportunity to learn about the intersection of art, design and business by engaging them in real-world art projects. Today, hundreds of individual artworks from park benches to large-scale murals - grace public and private spaces throughout the area. These commissions transform neighborhoods and youth in their pursuit of creativity, collaboration and community. For more information about Arts on the Block, please visit www.artsontheblock.com.