Creative Youth Development
Creative Youth Development
Based on the belief that engaging youth in creative activity leads to higher achievement and the development of personal, social, and intellectual skills and capabilities, creative youth development programs may focus on one discipline, or incorporate many. Either way, participating in a process of creative inquiry empowers young people to understand and interact positively with the world around them.
This special collection features creative youth development organizations and projects that work with young people from diverse backgrounds to affect change in their communities.
Left: Video of the Brooklyn-based Groundswell Community Mural Project. Read Groundswell's profile below!
Groundswell Community Mural Project is a Brooklyn-based, 501(c)(3) founded in 1996. Groundswell brings together professional artists, grassroots organizations and communities in partnership to create high quality murals in under-represented neighborhoods. Our work inspires youth, communities and artists to take active ownership of their future and equips them with the tools necessary for social change. We work city wide with a special focus on Brooklyn. |
VISION: The Baltimore United Viewfinders is an East Baltimore youth leadership initiative using multimedia arts to explore their own definition of self and place, encourage community action and exchange visual and verbal dialogue. MISSION: To foster growth and leadership potential by telling the collective story of the East Baltimore community though multiple learning strategies as defined by and supporting the interests of the young people who live there. |
Critical Exposure is a nonprofit that teaches youth to use the power of photography and their own voices to become effective advocates for school reform and social change. By empowering young people to develop skills as documentary photographers and advocates, we expose citizens and policymakers to the reality of inadequate schools and low-income communities through the eyes of the youth who confront those realities every day. We use a unique, three-pronged approach that combines art and advocacy: Youth Empowerment. |
FYI is new nonprofit organization made up of artists, educators, and activists. We use participatory theater to foster safe, accessible conversations about sexual health and sexual violence. FYI has three primary models of programming: Performance Tour FYI tours our two participatory plays to schools and after-school programs. These performances open the door to safe and engaging conversations about sexual health and sexual violence with youth audiences. |
Appalshop is a multi-media arts and cultural organization located in Whitesburg, Kentucky that strives to develop effective ways to use media to address the complex issues facing central Appalachia – a declining coal economy, a legacy of environmental damage, high unemployment rates, and poor educational opportunities and attainment. In 1988 Appalshop staff members founded the Appalachian Media Institute (AMI), a media training program for central Appalachian youth. |
The Asian Arts Initiative hosts a series of ongoing yearly youth workshops. By providing art-making opportunities and a safe space for Asian American teens, we hope that teens will have a chance to explore and express their experiences and connect with others in their community. Projects over the years have included theater, spoken word, poetry, writing, documentary video, narrative film, short video, drawing/painting, mural making, hip-hop dance, DJ techniques, and many more. |
The Documentary History Project for Youth is an after-school, weekend, and summertime production workshop for middle and high school students. Up to 12 young people explore an aspect of the political, social, or cultural history of Philadelphia by creating short video documentaries, audio works or websites. Students gain solid skills in media production - including planning, scripting, camera and sound recording, editing, and exposure to varied media production softwares. |
Finding Voice is an innovative literacy and visual arts program in Tucson, Arizona dedicated to helping refugee and immigrant youth in LEARN Center English Language Learner (ELL) classes at Catalina Magnet High School develop their literacy and second language skills by researching, photographing, writing, and speaking out about critical social issues in their lives and communities. |
As part of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art’s Artist Residency program, MATRIX 164 artist Jan Tichy partnered with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture’s Teen Advisory Group (TAG) to produce a series of light - based public art works that highlight the teens’ perspectives on social issues and the history and culture of Hartford’s North End. The works were installed on May 20, 2012 and will remain as long as the batteries and materials are intact. |
In January 2008, a tragic shooting in Lima, Ohio resurfaced racial tensions in the community. Lima City Schools enlisted Allen County Common Threads, a locally based volunteer group promoting arts-based civic dialogue, and Sojourn Theatre Company to implement an immediate arts-based project to help Lima Senior High School students process the tragedy. Sojourn interviewed students and wrote, performed, and recorded theatrical monologues expressing student perspectives on the incident and the racial tensions it exposed. |
Since 2008, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has operated an El Sistema-inspired in and after-school music education and mentorship program, delivered in partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools System (BCPSS). Designed to create social change for Baltimore City’s at-risk youth, OrchKids' mission is to: |
Telling Stories creates theatre from the life experiences of youth in the foster care system. Playwright Project developed the program in partnership with the LEAP (Leadership Empowers All Possibilities) Board of the San Diego Foster Youth Initiative, a group of young adults involved in advocating for changes to the system. The LEAP Board named the program after a sentiment frequently expressed by foster youth: “We go through many trials and tribulations and when we talk about what has happened to us, the response is ‘You’re lying. That didn’t happen. |