“Through my interactions with artists, curators, and other staff, I’ve learned about the moving parts that go into keeping the museum vibrant and full of life. I also helped contribute to this vibrancy by planning a teen-centered event to get more youth into the museum. These experiences have been invaluable to me—and just plain fun.”
– Lily Turri, a member of Carnegie Museum of Art’s Youth Art Initiative
Thanks to your support, more teens are connecting with each other and themselves through Carnegie Museums programs that help young people find something irreplaceable: their voice. At the Museum of Art, high schoolers in the Youth Art Initiative spend an entire year interacting with practicing artists and museum staff, leading conversations in the galleries, and influencing future teen activities. At the Youth Artist Studio, young artists get to dive more deeply into their own art as they share studio space at the museum and receive mentoring support from established artists. And through the Envisioning Our Future internship, rural and urban youth—most of whom had never been inside a museum—together explored the ideas of place and identity through filmmaking, photography, podcasting, and creative writing. “I was thankful for what it taught me,” says intern Oliver Baker, “how it helped me grow and gave me new perspectives about culture, people, art—everything.”
At The Warhol, a youth committee works with museum staff to plan and stage the annual LGBTQ+ Youth Prom, a safe, inclusive event where young people can celebrate with dinner, dancing, and art making. “It’s so good knowing that there are others like you,” said one 2018 prom attendee. “This is the place where fitting in is just being you.” And members of The Warhol’s Youth Arts Council, a yearlong leadership program, collaborate with museum staff, practicing artists, and other teens to create art and develop programs that celebrate diversity and challenge the status quo—including Youth Invasion, when teens take over the museum for a day of arts programming, and an annual art exhibition. Last year, the theme of the student-run exhibition was social justice. Says Alyza Foster, a member of the Youth Arts Council: “It’s all about wanting to make a change for the better.”
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