California Arts Council support for Youth in Arts will advance our impactful Intensive Arts Mentorship (I AM) program for teens and fuel our growth as a community leader in equity-focused initiatives. Bolstering resources for I AM will facilitate economic development through public art and workplace empowerment for Marin’s marginalized youth; amplifying their creative voice, while paying them as working artists. The CAC funds will enable Youth in Arts to continue to evolve as a key advocate for educational equity in and around the North Bay area. The CYD grant will directly support mentorship activities, public art creation and installation, teaching artists’ fees, and the student participants’ stipends, ensuring that our programs continue to provide valuable skills, opportunities, and exposure for underrepresented youth in our community.
For 50 years, Youth in Arts has developed visual and performing arts skills in young people through innovative and meaningful programs that foster confidence, compassion and resilience in students of all abilities. Through direct education, intentional teacher/educator support, and meaningful advocacy, Youth in Arts changes the lives of thousands in and around San Francisco’s north bay as well as insisting that access to a creative life is a right for all students.Through residencies, performances, community events, and intensive mentorship programs , we help young people develop specific art skills and provide opportunities for them to share their work. We maintain a roster of Mentor Artists that is both artistically and culturally diverse, and are dedicated to the principle of “reaching all learners,” differentiating and tailor designing programs for students of diverse backgrounds and students of all abilities. Through our Arts Unite Us residencies, we are the only consistent provider of arts for special education classrooms in Marin County. Other core programs include an extensive in-school residency program, assembly and workshops programs from a culturally relevant pedagogical lens, `Til Dawn A Cappella our teen mentorship, the YIArts.COR is our creative online resource for virtual and digital learning, and the YIA Gallery, one of only a handful of galleries in the country dedicated to showcasing youth art.

