Youth voice is essential to creative youth development. We’re asking youth leaders to speak to the power of culture as active agents in their own growth:
Creative Youth Development Learning Series Announced
UPDATED: Recordings from the entire learning series have been added below.
Join Grantmakers for Education Arts Education Impact Group. and the Creative Youth Development National Partnership for a learning series that starts July 30.
This learning series is a set of dynamic online conversations with youth, experts, funders, and practitioners based on a set of written briefs Americans for the Arts commissioned that were authored by field experts as part of AFTA’s first phase of a creative youth development toolkit.
We will explore new paths forward for supporting youth through creative youth development practice. The series will dive into what it means to support students in overcoming adversity, through approaches centered on agency, justice, and equity.
This learning series is brought to you by the Creative Youth Development National Partnership in collaboration with the Grantmakers for Education Arts Education Impact Group. It is hosted by the National Guild for Community Arts Education and made possible by generous support from the Clare Rose Foundation.
July 30, 2019, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET, Free
Working With Youth
So often we adults make decisions on programming and policy without youth voice, even though they are directly impacted by our choices. But young people are speaking up to become their own agents of change. They are concerned about their future when we are long gone and they are ready to lead today. To truly give them the space they are demanding, we must rethink what it means to co-lead with young people. Learn practices to consider when implementing youth-driven leadership models in classrooms, afterschool programs and community spaces. A rich conversation with funders, youth, practitioners and experts will provide insight from multiple perspectives.
Watch the July 30 recording
Read the “Working with Youth” landscape analysis (PDF)
August 28, 2019, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET, Free
Trends in CYD Programs
Creative youth development programs, with their grassroots and community-based origins, are a heterogeneous field of practice that has in recent years codified characteristics of high quality CYD through a series of frameworks. At the same time, CYD practitioners are committed to reflection and ongoing refinement, to programs being actively shaped by young people, and being connected to and a reflection of their communities. Therefore, CYD program practices are continuously in development.
Join us for an overview of the soon-to-be published Trends in CYD Programs landscape analysis from Americans for the Arts and the Creative Youth Development National Partnership. During the webinar, researcher Denise Montgomery of CultureThrive will discuss five current trends in CYD program development:
- Holistic Approaches Growing as Needs Grow
- Collaboration Across Sectors
- New Generation of Program Staff with New Approaches
- Scaling by Depth
- Establishing Creative Career Pathways
Watch the July 30 recording
Read the “Trends in CYD Programs” landscape analysis (PDF)
September 24, 2019, 3:00 – 4:00p.m. ET – Free
Working in Social Justice
Social justice in the field of creative youth development (CYD) means working with youth from multiple identities to expand and nurture their analytic sensibilities, creativity, self-reflection, and critical thinking skills to engage them in the work of fighting for visibility, inclusion, and intersectional justice. It also means promoting and supporting youth culture as a mechanism to drive youths’ understanding of and ability to challenge racial violence, and structural and systemic oppression.
Join Dr. Bettina Love for a discussion of key insights and recommendations presented in her recently released paper, “Working in Social Justice,” published by Americans for the Arts and the CYD National Partnership. Dr. Love will be joined by three nationally-recognized CYD practitioners.
Presenters:
- Bettina Love, author and Associate Professor of Educational Theory & Practice at the University of Georgia.
- Ashley Hare, Co-Founder, RE:FRAME Youth Arts Center, Phoenix, AZ and National Coordinator, CYD National Partnership
- Robyne Walker Murphy, Executive Director, Groundswell, Brooklyn, NY
- Mika Lemoine, Mentor Teaching Artist, Destiny Arts Center, Oakland, CA
Watch the September 24 recording
Read the “Working in Social Justice” landscape analysis (PDF)
The NEA Continues to Support Creative Youth Development
Last week, Mary Anne Carter, Acting Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, visited the Boch Center’s City Spotlights Teen Leadership Program, which empowers young people to become leaders in their schools, homes and communities using their creative voice. The program provides leadership training and employment opportunities and represents excellence in Creative Youth Development programming. As part of a full day in Massachusetts, Chairman Carter spoke with teens in the program about their creative experiences and the role the arts are playing in their development as artists and leaders in Boston.
The National Endowment for the Arts has played a key role in the national growth of the field of Creative Youth Development. They were in Boston for the National Summit on Creative Youth Development in 2014 that launched the national conversation around this work and again at the National Stakeholders meeting in 2017 that clarified a way forward for the field. Then Chairwoman Jane Chu visited Project STEP and co-hosted a convening focused on Creative Youth Development in 2016 and later became the first national funder of the National Partnership for Creative Youth Development through a grant accepted by the National Guild for Community Arts Education on behalf of the partnership. The NEA was also a long-time partner in the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award (NAHYP), which was the nation’s highest honor in Creative Youth Development.
New Book Published on CYD and Music Learning
Music Learning as Youth Development, a new book published in June 2019, highlights the role of community based Creative Youth Development (CYD) organizations as catalysts and trailblazers for bringing youth development practices into all areas of music learning.
Utilizing case studies and stories from organizations around the world — including Massachusetts-based programs such as Zumix, Berkshire Children and Families, the Sci Tech Band, Elevated Thought, Community Art Center, The Theater Offensive, RAW Art Works, and others — the evolution and impact of CYD is traced alongside the development of the youth development field.
Looking forward, this book is an important step in moving youth development into the center of music learning in schools, community based settings, higher education, and professional performance settings.
Erik Holmgren of Mass Cultural Council authored a chapter called, “Changing the Ecology of Music Learning: Lessons from Creative Youth Development,” and the book was edited by Larry Scripp of the New England Conservatory and Brian Kaufmann from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Youth Arts Showcase – Neighborhood Strings
Neighborhood Strings performing at the State House last year.
Worcester Chamber Music Society is funded in part by Mass Cultural Council’s SerHacer Program.
My Personality is as Gentrified as My Neighborhood
Dawry Ruiz is a 17-year-old artist from East Boston and alum of Zumix. In his presentation at TEDxYouth@BeaconStreet, he reminds us how development and placemaking patterns for the “Creative Class” continue to scour communities of their history, social patterns, and identity.
Podcast: Sonido Musica in Harmony
On the Mass Cultural Council’s podcast, Creative Minds Out Loud, we spoke with Eileen McCaffery, Executive Director of Community Music School of Springfield, and Julie Jaron, Director of Visual and Performing Arts for the Springfield Public Schools, to discuss their work over five years on the Sonido Musica program, a partnership that aims to reduce Springfield’s high school drop-out rate through student engagement, leadership, and performance opportunities. What started with three public schools and 60 students has grown to 18 schools and nearly 1,000 student musicians! Now nearby Holyoke wants to replicate this model. Their goal was not to have the Community Music School replace music education in the public schools, but rather to help principals and administrators see the power of the arts working every day in their school.
Check out other episodes featuring Creative Youth Development leaders.
Through the Eyes of Photographer James E. Reed
High school apprentices at the New Bedford Whaling Museum created an exhibition focusing on New Bedford’s first black photographer, James E. Reed.
Reed, a prominent African-American photographer born and raised in the New Bedford area, captured the city’s landscape and influential citizens over the course of his 34-year photography career.
Studying the history of New Bedford and photography as well as the business of the discipline, apprentices gained insight into Reed’s aesthetic and artistic style.
New Bedford Superior Courthouse: Past and Present (recreated by Joshua).
Reed’s Grace Episcopal Church and Destiny’s modern day recreation.
They explored the history of New Bedford through the eyes of the photographer, gaining inspiration for their project; honoring Reed’s legacy by recreating his work with modern-day influential community members (selected by the group) and local landmarks depicted in his pieces. Through this project, youth also showcased the shift in photography over the years.
Recipients of Mass Cultural Council’s 2018 Amplify grant, Reed’s Modern Studio exhibition was on display in the museum’s San Francisco room in the Summer of 2018.
CYD Gets a National BOOST
Last week, the Clare Rose Foundation in partnership with the Creative Youth Development National Partnership, co-hosted the first BOOST creative youth development workshop strand at the BOOST Conference in Palm Springs, CA. Pursuing the goal of bringing the impact of CYD work to a broader national audience, the BOOST Conference was an opportunity to engage with over 2,500 out-of-school time providers, administrators, and professionals.
While we couldn’t be there in person to present, we shared the following video with BOOST attendees. Watch Mass Cultural Council’s Executive Director Anita Walker and Program Manager Erik Holmgren discuss our work to support the field of Creative Youth Development in Massachusetts:
Adobe Offering Grants, Software to Organizations
Adobe has some open opportunities available for Creative Youth Development organizations, including:
- Grants to support Projects & Collaborations (up to $7k)
- Hardware grants (up to $5k)
- Free access to Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom, In Design, etc.)
- Webinars to support learning across CYD organizations
There are currently about 50 organizations around the world that are engaged in the network through one or more of the above opportunities.
Learn more
