We have all the feels thinking back on all of the memorable moments our young people experienced last month. So we had to show ya! Take a look at some of the cool projects our young artists accomplished last month.
Restoring Local Treasures All together is better. Our teen leaders joined forces to help one of our teens Natalia Mangaroo, 18, with her high school senior project. They gave Paradise Park, a beloved Richmond treasure hidden in the heart of the Fan, a fresh coat of paint!
“I decided to do this as my senior project because we used to come here all the time for field trips in elementary school. This was such a happy place for me when I was little, and it made me sad to see it not as it used to be. So I decided to revamp it so that the younger kids who come here now feel the same joy that I felt when I was their age.” -Natalia
Storytelling in Fulton Middle schoolers from the East End learned the ropes of radio production through our collaborative program with the Neighborhood Resource Center and WRIR! Last year, they even recorded a podcast that aired on WRIR 97.3 fm radio featuring heart-warming conversations with our young artists and their families :).
Now we're back at the NRC and last month our young people took their storytelling skills a step further & put on their professional interviewer hats, speaking with a local business owner, Joe Bailey, founder of Island Catering. Stay tuned to hear their interview! In the meantime, take a look at these pics from their reportings:
Engaging in Conversations with Richmond Leaders
Our young people interrogated racism and oppression through a trauma sensitive arts integration project called Massive Resilience, and then presented their art to Mayor Levar Stoney, as well as Members of Superintendent Jason Kamras' Leadership Team Harry Hughes and Michelle Hudacsko! They even discussed with the leaders the project's purpose: to stimulate creative thinking, transform community perceptions, and provide young people with a creative process to interpret the root causes of racial conflict within American society.
A Reflection on Massive Resilience
Our Teen Leadership Council gained so many invaluable experiences from their Massive Resilience project. They walked the Trail of Enslaved Africans, participated in drumming and peacemaking circles with the Junkyard Jam master himself Ram Bhagat, engaged in deep coversations about racial healing, and of course, created powerful art that showcased a community history around Richmond’s role in the transatlantic slave trade. Their exhibition that opened last month encouraged thought and conversation around racism that still exists today, 400 years after the first enslaved Africans were forced to come to our country. And the exhibit recieved such an overwhelmingly warm reception from the community it's moving next to the Black History Museum in September! Be sure to stop by and check it out this fall!