Mask-making workshop

On Saturday, April 10 Kamil led a mask-making workshop for all members of YAC. It was great fun! Here are some photos:

Kamil explains the mask-making process.


Evelynn, Grace, Sam, Hannah and Staci cut strips of plaster!


The group designing their masks.

Looking great, Sam!

All participants both had their face cast in plaster and helped cover their partner's face - there were lots of creative designs. We painted several masks at GEV Ware this past Monday, and they turned out AWESOME!

The masks will be on display at the YAC end of the year show on May 14th, and at Kamil's Div-III show on May 7th! Come out and see them!

Exciting Upcoming Events this weekend!!!

We've got some great events coming up this weekend at YAC!

Tomorrow, Friday, is the second installment of the Dialogue Project.

The Dialogue Project aims to engage people of all races/ethnicities in dialogue about the idea of race and racial identification as embedded in power relations based on skin color that remain very much in existence in the current cultural climate. We will conduct three sequential dialogues with YAC in small groups. Each group will discuss the impact of racial identity on their lives and on the groups with which they identify. We will also look at the ways all groups participate (whether voluntarily or coerced) in whiteness as they struggle to gain footing in a racially stratified society.

The second dialogue is in the Pole Room at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst. Come at 3:45 to enjoy some delicious homemade food and treats from Henion Bakery, then participate in the dialogue from 4-6pm.


On Saturday, April 10 from 10-1, Get Up Get Down will be leading a mask-making workshop at in Studio 2 of the Art Barn at Hampshire College. This is an exciting opportunity to learn some basic mask-making skills, spend time with everyone in YAC programs, and cover your face in vaseline and plaster! It's a chance for people to get some instruction but to also explore their own creativity.

This workshop is offered as a part of the Hampshire College Center for Civil Liberties and Public Policy's (CLPP) annual Reproductive Rights conference. We are encouraging any interested youth to participate in the conference during the afternoon on Saturday.

If you are interested in attending the conference as well as the mask-making workshop, you should register in advance if possible (it's free). Here's the link: http://clppconference.rvtc.us/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1

Fabulous GUGD interns Vic and Cory have generously offered to have a talk-back, a safe space where YACies can bring up/talk through anything that came up during the workshops, after the last workshop of the day (at 6:45). It is important that we know who is interested in attending the conference so they can reserve a space. Please post on the Facebook event wall if you want to attend the conference as well as the workshop!

Here is the schedule for the conference: http://clpp.hampshire.edu/projects/conference/2010/schedule. You will see when you look through that there are a number of workshops focused on youth and youth-related interests that could be compelling for folks to attend!

Hope to see many of you there!

Photos from the Pizza Party!

A great time was had by all at the YAC Pizza Party/Art Share on the 14th! Everyone enjoyed delicious pizza from Antonio's and Bertucci's, cupcakes, and really cool art.

Thanks to Alisa and Jacob for sharing their portfolios (you can see them here and here)...

...to the GEV Amherst participants for bringing their prints and zine pages...

...and to the GEV Ware participants for showing their digital photos!

Upcoming events at YAC!

There are some really exciting events coming up at Youth Action Coalition in the month of January!

This Sunday, January 10th at 4pm, the Leverett Community Chorus is hosting a benefit concert for YAC at the First Congregational Church in Leverett Center. The suggested donation is $8. Under the masterful direction of Anne Louise White, the Leverett Community Chorus will sing a rich repertoire drawing from varied musical traditions, including a gentle Yoruba chant, a traditional Breton Carol, a rousing union anthem, South African freedom songs and more. This intergenerational chorus is a joyful community gathering that has been together for six years.

Our next all-YAC event is on Thursday, January 14th at 5pm at the Bangs Community Center! It's a pizza party and art share, with pizza generously donated by Antonio's in Amherst. This event is a time for the YAC community to come together socially - to hang out, eat some delicious pizza, and talk about our art. There will be a laptop and a projector available to show digital videos, photographs, and other art. You should bring your art to share!

Also coming up soon - a VV screening and cabaret!

MISUNDERSTOOD : Friday, January 29th
6:30-8:30pm in the Amherst College Campus Center Freidman Room

Join Video Vanguards youth for an evening of brand new video, poetry, dance, music, and education.

mis⋅un⋅der⋅stood[mis-uhn-der-stood]
–adjective
1. improperly understood or interpreted.
2. unappreciated.

How and why we are we MISUNDERSTOOD?
What does it mean and how does it feel to be MISUNDERSTOOD?

Our videos explore issues of identity, stereotypes, music, education, access, and teen depression.

Our cabarets feature local artists from the community!

If you’re a performer, or know of someone locally, we'd love to have you be a part of our cabaret! Poetry, music, dance, anything we'd love to hear what you have to say! The theme is based around what it means to be "misunderstood." To get involved in the cabaret or to find out more about Video Vanguards contact: Program Coordinator Sasha Alexander : sasha@youthactioncoalition.org, 856.906.5968 or Noalanii Karakashian : noaniik@gmail.com if you are interested in performing at the cabaret.