April's Nonprofit Spotlight is Youth Arts Alliance!
Mission: Youth Arts Alliance provides healing centered arts workshops to young people across Michigan. We consistently redefine what it means to invest in communities, by listening to and taking direction from the young people we serve. YAA’s cohort of teaching artists responds to the visions and creative aspirations of young people, meeting them where they are.
Vision: Youth Arts Alliance firmly believes that access to high-quality arts experiences and education is a human right. We’re committed to sharing healing-centered arts practices with youth artists, their families, and surrounding communities with local teaching artists’ dedicated support and expertise. YAA programming invites connection, dialogue, and empathy, bringing us towards healthier, more just, collaborative communities.
Details
Events to support Youth Arts Alliance
Event Registration Coming Soon - Stay tuned!
April 1, 2023
Youth Arts Alliance has more of their revolutionary art workshops on the horizon for local young people to check out. Stay tuned to their website and social media to learn more.
What does YAA offer
Youth Arts Alliance provides high quality, healing centered arts programming in the form of weekly workshops, intensive arts residencies, collaborative public art making and family creative arts and mindfulness opportunities. YAA programming is free to all who participate, to find out more, email [email protected] for details.
Recently, YAA took part in a collaborative initiative called RE:CLAIM (Rooted Exhibition: Community, Love, Abundance, Intergenerational, Multiplicity). YAA was a driving organizing partner alongside Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, My Brother's Keeper of Washtenaw County, Title Track and Amplify Project hosting an 8 week (take-over) exhibition and performance series at the Ann Arbor Courthouse. Over 100 Washtenaw County artists, performers, musicians and poets were featured in RE:CLAIM, alongside dozens of organizational partners. They hope to participate in more groundbreaking events and initiatives such as these in the future.
What's going on at YAA
This year marks 10 years of investing in emerging youth artists, musicians, poets and performers. YAA started in carceral settings, locked facilities where youth are incarcerated. In response to youths' requests for more community arts opportunities, YAA grew into community centers, neighborhoods, collaborations with organizations and programming offered at their spaces. YAA meets folks wherever they are.
Thousands of young people and their families have engaged in YAA, their evaluation data indicates big impact; YAA offers a myriad of artistic experiences in visual art, ceramics, music, photography, movement, creative writing, theater, public art, sculpture making and more!
YAA rejects centering trauma and divestment as rationale for investment, rather YAA centers arts access as a human right, creative practices as vehicles for healing, the abundance of community connection and the power of collaboration. Their growth happens through deeply listening to the wants, needs and dreams of folks who create with them.
How to contribute
Cash donations can be accepted at the link provided or YAA accepts new art supplies and materials; donations can be coordinated with Dawn Espy, YAA Program Manager at [email protected].
YAA doesn't have a volunteer program, but they welcome organizational partners and folks interested in being teaching artists. Teaching Artist Application here: https://youthartsalliance.org/teaching-artist-application/
Why Zing loves YAA
It's crucial that young people all have access to exploring their creativity and learning to express themselves artistically. We've loved watching the work that Youth Arts Alliance has done in our community expand over the years and know that they've changed countless lives for the better. It's so inspiring to see an organization truly dedicated to reaching every young person, no matter where they're at in life, and seeing their potential.