Adultism and Its Impact on Youth and Adult Spaces

This piece originally appeared in the GuildNotes, Issue 1, 2021

Panelists for the discussion on adultism. Clockwise from top left: Tanykia “Diamond” Davis, Paula Ortega, Quinn Pursell, Sam Marcial, Mario Pauldon, and Brianna Bryant.

Community arts educators cannot authentically amplify youth voice and leadership without intentionally working to dismantle adultism in their programs, organizations, and collective action efforts. Adultism is the systematic mistreatment and disrespect of young people which in turn disregards their power and rights as full human-beings.

Too often, young people are shut out of or erased from policy and programming conversations and decision-making processes that directly affect their lives. Young people not only need a “seat at the table,” they need the holistic support of adult accomplices to create their own tables. In December 2020, young artists from the Creative Youth Development Partnership’s National Youth Network and Detroit’s CYD local network presented “Adultism,” a youth panel discussion on adultism and its impact on youth and adult spaces. The panel was organized by Paula Ortega, the Partnership’s National Youth Coordinator and core team member of Re:Frame Youth Arts Center (Phoenix), and Tanykia “Diamond” Davis, youth representative for the Detroit CYD Network and Living Arts (Detroit). They were joined in conversation by Mario Pauldon, poet and vocalist (Illinois); Sam Marcial, poet and dancer (California), Quinn Pursell, theatre artist (Arizona); and Brianna Bryant, engineer and applied artist (Michigan).
Continue reading “Adultism and Its Impact on Youth and Adult Spaces”

Creative Youth Development National Partnership to Receive $50,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Guild for Community Arts Education has been approved for a $50,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the Creative Youth Development National Partnership. This project will foster systemic change through robust programs for young artists that prioritize youth leadership and voice, and are rooted in racial equity, social justice, and collective action. The CYD National Partnership’s project is among 1,073 projects across America, totaling nearly $25 million, that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category.

“We are excited to continue supporting the growth of CYD Peer Networks in Austin, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan,” said Ashley Hare, the Guild’s Director of Leadership Development. “The pandemic last year was unexpected, but gave us more time together to recenter around the values of CYD, and ensure authentic relationship-building between youth and adult practitioners.”
Continue reading “Creative Youth Development National Partnership to Receive $50,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts”

Youth Leaders: 2 Ways to Get Involved with CYD

Two timely ways youth leaders can get involved with Creative Youth Development:

Join the National Young Artists Summit 2021 Planning Committee

Help us plan, coordinate, and co-facilitate the 2021 National Young Artists Summit, to be held virtually on October 16, 2021. Working with a group of youth from across the country committee members design a full-day Summit, providing opportunities for youth leaders, ages 15-20, from a range of artistic disciplines, to connect, create, and celebrate.

Apply by April 28, 2021

National Young Artists Summit Application Now Open

 

Be a Part of the National Youth Network

Through the National Youth Network young artists ages 13-24 from all across the United States come together to artistically explore different art forms, challenges and opportunities to thrive together.

Register for a Network Call (Fridays at 6:30 ET)

National Youth Netowrk - a space for young people to come together to build community and have conversations about things that matter to us

For more information, email Paula Ortega, National Youth Coordinator.

Brief Examines Local Peer Learning Networks

In 2019, the CYD National Partnership’s Field Building Action Team conducted interviews across the nation to understand the growth of peer learning networks—focused fully or in part on CYD—that are emerging across the country. The results were compiled in a brief written for the CYD National Partnership by Ellen Hirzy in January 2020:

Peer learning networks promote the sharing of knowledge, experiences, ideas, and promising practices among professionals. Whether formal or informal, they give people a chance to know others who are engaged in similar work with similar challenges. Close interaction with peers can be difficult to find in the nonprofit world, especially for those working in smaller organizations with limited resources. The mutual encouragement and professional growth that happens over time through a peer network can make a profound difference in individuals and their organizations, and ultimately in the youth they serve.

Looking at the broader picture, as peer networks proliferate, collectively they will help to advance the creative youth development field as a whole, including the growth of cross-sector collaboration. This paper describes the benefits of CYD peer learning networks, their structure and function, challenges they face, and attributes that contribute to success. Designed as a reference tool for practitioners, funders, and key stakeholders, it is based on interviews the CYD National Partnership conducted with 11 emergent and sustaining networks around the country. Short profiles of several networks illustrate the diversity and potential of peer learning as a catalyst to creative youth development.

Read the Brief

Meet the Partners

CYD National Partners

As you know, the CYD National Partnership includes the voices of practitioners, researchers, funders, and cross-sector partners who are committed to increasing equitable access to Creative Youth Development. We’ve recently added email addresses for the partners who are willing to be points of contact about their respective work within the CYD field. Meet the partners.

Holding Space for Funders

A coalition of Creative Youth Development and allied funders are holding a Zoom space for on-going discussions and collective action on the first Thursday of each month, from 10-11:30am PT/1-2:30pm ET. During this time together, funders hear from each other about the most pressing needs and recent successes in their philanthropic work, before breaking out into small groups to brainstorm and plan collaborative and shared initiatives around three focus areas: Racial Equity, Youth Voice, and Community/Field Building. For more information, or to join the next meeting, please email Katie Lorge.

Register Now for National Young Artists Summit Nov. 7-8

graphic for National Young Artist Summit

Registration now open for the 2020 National Young Artist Summit.

This free 2-day summit – entirely designed and led by young people – provides opportunities for artists ages 13 -24 from a range of artistic disciplines, to connect, create, and celebrate.

Saturday, November 7, 2020, 1-6pm (EST)
Sunday, November 8, 2020, 3:30-8pm (EST)

The 2020 summit is virtual. Once registered, you will receive a link to the HOPIN virtual event platform.

Register Now

Clare Rose Foundation Featured in New York Times

Clare Rose Foundation LogoClare Rose Foundation (CRF) was featured in today’s Wealth Matters column in The New York Times, highlighting one of their COVID responses — direct micro-grants to Teaching Artists.

These grants to individuals were one initiative in the multi-prong strategy CRF employed to address the needs that emerged in the earliest weeks of the pandemic.

Other activities included:

    • Increased general operating funds to current CYD grantees
    • Technical Assistance to help organizations move programming online
    • Multiple weekly convenings for partners to build a community of support and peer learning
    • Joining with other Funders in the community to create a pooled fund to support arts small organizations and artists

Mapping Skill to Will: Approaches to Funding Creative Youth Development in the United States

In 2018, the Creative Youth Development (CYD) National Partnership, through grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, worked in concert with the broader field to drive collective action in three strategic priorities to advance creative youth development:

    • Visibility & Impact: Documenting and Communicating Outcomes and Impact
    • Funding: Building Pathways to Funding
    • Field Building: Professional Development, Networking & Technical Assistance

The research that has been conducted involves an analysis of current and potential CYD funders, the experience and attitudes of those funders through a developed Skill/Will Map, and a deep-dive set of case stories illuminating partnerships between funders and CYD programs. Continue reading “Mapping Skill to Will: Approaches to Funding Creative Youth Development in the United States”

Building Pathways to Funding: A Strategy Towards Expanding Funding for the CYD Field

CYD funder “Skill” vs “Will” matrix

In 2018, the Creative Youth Development (CYD) National Partnership, through grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, worked in concert with the broader field to drive collective action in three strategic priorities to advance creative youth development:

    • Visibility & Impact: Documenting and Communicating Outcomes and Impact
    • Funding: Building Pathways to Funding
    • Field Building: Professional Development, Networking & Technical Assistance

The research that has been conducted involves an analysis of current and potential CYD funders, the experience and attitudes of those funders through a developed Skill/Will Map, and a deep-dive set of case stories illuminating partnerships between funders and CYD programs. Continue reading “Building Pathways to Funding: A Strategy Towards Expanding Funding for the CYD Field”