YBCA Young Artists at Work Program - Yerba Buena Center for the ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMedia Contact: Maureen Dixon415.321.1307; mdixon@ybca.orgYerba Buena Center for the Arts PresentsYBCA Young Artists at Work ProgramUp to 25 Bay Area high school youth will spend their afternoons immersed incontemporary art and ideas at YBCA’s paid,award-winning afterschool art-as activism residency for teensApplication Deadline: June 10, 2013, 5 p.m.Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103415.979.2787; www.ybca.orgYAAW Pop-Up Art Show and Teen NightFriday, April 26, 6-8 p.m./YBCA Grand Lobby/FREESAN FRANCISCO – (March 18, 2013) – The YBCA Young Artists at Work (YAAW) program is apaid, year-long, multidisciplinary arts-as-activism residency for Bay Area high school youth atthe Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The YAAW program is designed for young people who areinterested in expanding their artistic craft while connecting with local communities and thecontemporary art world.

During the Summer Intensive, from July 22 through August 15, 2013, 25 Bay Area high schoolyouth will spend their afternoons immersed in contemporary art and ideas at YBCA, learningfrom local and global artists who make project-based, social-justice-oriented work. Residencyparticipants will be paid up to $225 a month.The YAAW students will spend then spend the rest of the year (after school, on Tuesdays andThursdays) designing and producing original community-based arts projects under the guidanceof YBCA artist-mentors. They also will have the opportunity to partner with other localorganizations on their projects."The YAAW program is about changing lives,” said Laurel Butler, YBCA’s youth arts manager.“It's about validating the work of young artists by paying them for their work, just like aprofessional residency would. It's about connecting them with community organizations thatcare deeply about the same social justice issues, so that they can locate their artwork in a largercritical conversation. It's also about supporting every step of our youth's path to excellence –applying to college, showing their work in a gallery, cultivating an online portfolio and meetingcollaborators and mentors who will last a lifetime. To be able to pay each individual teen tocreate the community-based art project of their dreams, is, simply, one of the most excitingthings I've ever done as an educator. I only wish we could work with every single teen artist inthe Bay."Current YAAW students’ projects include:-- A collaboration with the Aquarium of the Bay to create a series of paintings about the GreatPacific Garbage Patch.--Working with LYRIC, a San Francisco organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual,transgender, queer and questioning youth, to write a play about coming-out experiences foryoung queer people of color.--Teaching theater workshops for children with chronic illnesses in collaboration with CoachArt,a nonprofit organization that improves the quality of the life for children, and their siblings, withchronic and life-threatening illnesses, by providing free arts and athletics classes.--Building a sculpture/installation about surveillance cameras and public space with theElectronic Frontier Foundation. which defends digital rights.--Collaborating with Glide Memorial Church to develop a photo series about the invisibility ofhomeless populations.“YAAW helps me grow as a young artist by providing me opportunities to meet with other artistsin the community, participate in activities that are planned by youth, see the many differentforms of art in San Francisco, and work with different community organizations,” said YAAWstudent Annie Chen, who is in 11 th grade at Lowell High School in San Francisco. Mycommunity-based project, On Feminism and Women Leadership, is a video that tells the storiesof inspirational women and teen leaders in feminism. My community partner, Bay Area VideoCoalition, supported my project by allowing my partner and me to use their computer labs andinterview some amazing women on their staff. It was important for me to make this projectbecause I want to tell my own story and give other wonderful women an opportunity to tell theirstories to inspire other people.”2

Ideal candidates for the YAAW program should be critical thinkers, creative visionaries, drivento make art that inspires change in the world, excited about collaborating with other youngcontemporary artists, ready to design and produce their own community-based arts projects,and interested in free access to YBCA gallery exhibitions, performances and films.The YAAW application is online and can be found at: www.ybca.org/get_involved/yaaw.The application deadline is Monday, June 10, 2013, at 5 p.m.Applicants who have questions about the program may e-mail their inquiries to:yaaw@ybca.org.YAAW news and information can be found on Tumblr: http://ybca-yaaw.tumblr.com/.YAAW Pop-Up Art Show and Teen NightFriday, April 26, 6-8 p.m./YBCA Grand Lobby/FREEThe YAAW projects from the past year will be featured in a pop-up gallery show at YBCA.Audiences will see how the current generation of young artists tackles the most pressingcontemporary social-justice issues with original works of photography, painting, video, sculpture,multimedia installation and performance. The show will also feature free refreshments andgallery admission to YBCA, an open graffiti wall, a costume contest, plus teen DJs,performances and film screenings.ABOUT YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTSYerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), located in San Francisco's Yerba Buena culturaldistrict, is one of the nation's leading multidisciplinary contemporary arts centers. With a beliefthat contemporary art is at the heart of community life, YBCA brings audiences and artists of allbackgrounds together to express and experience creativity. The organization is known fornurturing emerging artists at the forefront of their fields and presenting works that blend artforms and explore the events and ideas of our time. As part of its commitment to the SanFrancisco Bay Area, YBCA supports the local arts community and reflects the region's diversityof people and thought through its arts and public programming.YBCA programs around four Big Ideas to organize its wide-ranging programs and provide acontext with which to engage the art. The Big Ideas are: ENCOUNTER: Engaging the socialcontext; SOAR: The search for meaning; REFLECT: Considering the personal; and DARE:Innovations in art, action, audience. These ideas, which encompass art from all disciplines, aredesigned to focus an investigation of contemporary art and its relationship to the largerworld. Using the Big Ideas as portals, YBCA has established a framework of thought that invitesexploration and risk-taking, quiet reflection and active engagement.Performing arts, visual arts and film/video programs are curated thematically around Big Ideaswhich illustrate the connections and associations between the works. Public programs and BigIdea Nights, YBCA's popular free open house series, are dedicated to establishing a deeperunderstanding and appreciation of contemporary art. YBCA presents programming year-roundin the Forum, Screening Room, Galleries and the Lam Research Theater (formerly the NovellusTheater). For tickets and information, call 415.978.ARTS (2787) or visit www.ybca.org.# # #2