With support from the California Arts Council, A REASON TO SURVIVE will, in partnership with San Diego County’s Juvenile Court and Community School, engage justice-involved youth in learning and applying visual/media art skills to create original murals and photo exhibitions, reflective of lived experiences, to be installed at JCCS campuses.
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.

