A REASON TO SURVIVE in partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education Juvenile Court & Community Schools will select youth who are impacted by the juvenile justice system and have attended leadership training to complete a community mural in National City, led by Community Artist and Mentor, Rob Tobin. The project begins in summer 2018 with a leadership development intensive, then continues with the youth in an after school setting at a community school with an artist mentor.
A Reason To Survive (ARTS) offers arts programming and creative workforce opportunities for youth and young adults (ages 8-24) living the south county region of San Diego. Through our program initiatives – Community ARTS, ARTS 4 Justice, ARTS On Campus, and ARTS @ Work — young people gain exposure to a range of artistic disciplines (visual arts, media arts, music, and industrial arts in our Maker Workshop), while deepening their social-emotional development through meaningful relationships and mentorship provided by teaching artists and ARTS staff. Through our innovative Community of Care model, we integrate social-emotional supports into our program / curricula design and into the overall design of learning spaces, exhibitions, and performances at the ARTS Center.