Monday, September 5, 2011
Mash-less
Okay, I know some teenagers and they are actually quite responsible and interested in the world. So why did I have 18 teens register for MashUp (youth mixed media exhibition at SAGA), and only 2 brought in artwork on delivery day? Is it the end-of-summer bummer? I had to go out and rustle up some youth artists and get them to bring work in last minute. Thank goodness the art teacher from Armstrong delivered a dozen student works two months ago. Otherwise, the show would have been mighty slim indeed. We created three large collaborative interactive works to mash on during the exhibition, which is great fun. But ultimately, this may spell the demise of the annual youth exhibition.
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The year there was a good showing from the store front, which was a really important experience for that particular group of youth who struggle to see themselves as included in anything mainstream or community based, the show was I believe in April. We started preparing in January and collectively brought our work. We wouldn't be able to put things in at the end of a year because a lot of our students would no longer be local by fall. There wasn't a funded art program at storefront last year. So, from my observation, inclusion for at risk youth requires a lot of support to get to the participation place, april is better than september, and 0 dollars for an art program through the school district all impact the daylights out of outcome.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I certainly wish there was more art support in the schools, as I can see the decline year by year in not only participation, but the experimentation with hands-on visual art as a means of expressing oneself. About the time of year; May is generally the month of the youth show, but we had to close the gallery for bathroom renovations in May. It was either move the show to September, or cancel it altogether.
ReplyDeleteof course, while enjoying the new bathrooms i hadn't thought about that obvious disruption. Maybe next year we could think about some workshop / promo at the dac! that would be a blast!!!
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