AYEA Kicks off a Summer of Arts in Action!
Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) is gearing up to host our annual fall Youth Organizer Summit in September, and with applications open for just 2 more days, this Summit is already shaping up to be our biggest and best yet since we resumed in-person gatherings post-pandemic! We already have applications pouring in from across the state! Here at AYEA, we’re very excited about this fall’s Summit because it marks the beginning of AYEA’s next 2-year statewide campaign cycle. AYEA is youth-led, meaning teens choose and lead all of AYEA’s projects and campaigns. The teens that gather this fall will decide on an issue that is important to them and their peers and then build and execute a statewide campaign that seeks to address it!
This also means that it’s time to tool-up with some new campaign skills! To build excitement and skills in preparation for AYEA’s next moves, we’re excited to host a series of Arts-in-Action workshops this summer for teens in Fairbanks, Kodiak, and Anchorage! Know a teen in one of those communities? They can register here!
Community organizers have long used art to tell stories and make bold statements that inspire community action – and AYEA is no exception! Scroll down to see some inspiring art and messages that AYEA teens have created over the years! From raising awareness about plastic bag bans and statewide youth climate strikes to direct action with art at the state capitol building to demand education funding (not once, but twice!), AYEA teens know the power of a bold statement or eye-catching art piece to share their message!
At our summer workshops, teens will learn arts-in-action techniques like screen printing, block printing, and banner painting that they can use in their communities. They’ll also get to create and share their own messages about whatever issues are important to them! Any teens who attend the fall Summit with these new tools under their belts will be poised to help their fellow organizers develop art and messaging to launch their new campaign.
We even kicked off the summer with some art at Trailside Discovery Camp’s Youth Leaders in Action week, where AYEA teens joined Trailside youth to learn about the impacts of climate change on Alaska’s ecosystems, and actions we can take to address it. Along with the help of an AYEA teen, Trailside youth tried out some fun block printing skills and worked on creating their own messages for action.
AYEA Arts in Action workshops are coming up next month in the following places. Help us share with teens you know!
A big Thank You to the Martha Levensaler Fund and the Alaska Conservation Foundation for supporting this project! We can’t wait to share the inspiring work that is created!
