RESEARCH

Young people are envisioning the future of their communities right now. As adults, we must understand the immense and expansive impact of creative youth on communities.

Throughout 2020, a group of young creative people, their adult allies, and a team of researchers have reviewed literature, data sets, and case studies – comprised of interviews, narratives, and artistic works – to examine the challenges and opportunities that exist at the intersection of arts & culture, community development, and youth development.

As a result, this field scan seeks to answer the question “What impact do creative youth have on communities?” through the perspectives of young creatives.

Combining knowledge from a 15-person advisory committee, the extant literature in the field of community development, and youth development, and deep-dives with nine selected projects as case stories, ArtPlace America and Creative Generation published a Centering Creative Youth in Community Development: A Creative Placemaking Field Scan. This field scan presents a series of findings: community benefits defined by young creatives, strategies for partnering to expand the reach of projects, and new ways of defining success.

Most notably, the field scan concludes that unabashedly, young creatives believe their projects benefit both people and places and promote more just and thriving communities. Additionally, in communities where creative youth & community development projects are present, youth see a future where:

Youth increase creativity and cultivate greater agency in themselves and others
Communities (people and places) are more sustainable and responsive
Youth-serving organizations honor personal identity and build collective belonging
Places and their populations are healthier, safer, and better able to foster wellbeing
Youth and adults catalyze intergenerational cultural continuity

Further, this research found an increased importance of partnering across sectors and among stakeholders to increase the impacts of creative youth in communities and presents several bold changes to the field generated by young creatives. Additionally, Creative Generation concludes that creative youth believe their projects need new language and measures of success. In order to achieve this, the fields of creative youth development, creative placemaking, and their allied sectors need to evolve their approaches to defining, researching, and measuring success. We believe that young people and adults must work together to define and build these.

Combining all findings from the youth-led research, Creative Generation had drafted a provocative road map for the future – compiled by inputs through the lens of creative youth – to guide our communities of practice. In pink below, we have integrated the significant changes to the intersectional field of creative youth & community development from the perspectives of creative youth outlined throughout this field scan. As adults, it is our responsibility to center creative youth in the development of the communities — and the future — that they envision.

Connecting Outcomes to Stories

With a focus on the youth-contributed outcomes, we hope to shine a spotlight on projects which exemplify these ideals. In the Stories section, please find an overview of a number of case stories and other examples from the field. Below, please find an aggregation of stories related to reach youth-contributed outcome.

Research Publications

Featured

A Creative Youth and Community Development Literature Review

What is a Creative Youth and Community Development Project? The Guide

Free Street Theatre’s Youth Ensemble: A Case Story

Free Street has been at the forefront of creating affordable, inclusive, and innovative theater in communities across Chicago by seeking out new and effective ways to challenge racial and economic segregation through the arts.

Dancing Grounds’ Dance for Social Change: A Case Story

Dancing Grounds (DG) is a multigenerational arts organization that brings inclusive and accessible dance programs to New Orleans residents of all ages. With youth dance companies, summer camps, and the annual Dance for Social Change Festival, DG creates safe and celebratory spaces in which the lived experiences of youth are truly valued and their unique creative talents are recognized, developed, and celebrated. Since 2012, DG has become a driving force for arts and education in New Orleans and a hub for the local dance community, serving over 3,000 youth, 5,000 adults, and countless audience members. DG’s work is guided by a set of core values: equity, racial justice, integrity, relationships, learning, collaboration, abundance, and joy.

SEEDS Border Youth Dialogue: A Case Story

Damaging narratives regarding the United States/Mexico border birthed SEEDS Border Youth Dialogue, a center for youth engagement, leadership, and local arts incubation in Nogales, Arizona. The center offers documentary arts mentoring with youth, artist- and scholar-in-residence programs, and co-working lab space for young leaders and entrepreneurs. It represents an innovative partnership between the Southwest Folklife Alliance, the University of Arizona, and individuals and organizations in Nogales.

Performing Statistics’ Youth Ambassador Squad: A Case Story

Performing Statistics is a cultural organizing project that uses art to model, imagine, and advocate for a world without youth. As a group of artists, advocates, and organizers, they connect young people impacted by the juvenile justice system with the community and systems leaders through the arts.

Juxtaposition Arts’ Tactical Lab: A Case Story

Juxtaposition Arts is a teen-staffed art and design center, gallery, retail shop, and artists’ studio space in North Minneapolis that develops community by engaging and employing young urban artists in hands-on education initiatives that create pathways to self-sufficiency while actualizing creative power.

Cheyenne River Youth Project’s Waniyetu Wowapi Lakota Youth Arts and Culture Institute: A Case Story

The Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP) gives children and teens the opportunities and tools they need for a future in which they do more than survive—they thrive. We are planting seeds for that future every day, through programs dedicated to holistic wellness, job and life skills, and strengthening the connection our kids have to their Lakota culture. In the process, we are building our young people’s capacity to achieve and serve as both leaders and culture bearers for the Lakota Nation.

1Hood Media’s Artivist Academy: A Case Story

1Hood Media (1Hood) is a collective of socially-conscious artists and activists who utilize art to raise awareness on issues within the Pittsburgh community. 1Hood seeks to establish a platform for artistic expression in efforts to further the economic and creative advancement of artists, as well the active engagement of diverse audiences. Never censoring youth in their programming, 1Hood provides a safe space for youth to learn, grow, and tell their own stories. The artist-activist collective aims to be the vehicle that will identify, develop, and inspire the artists & activists of today and tomorrow.

Centering Creative Youth In Community Development: A Creative Placemaking Field Scan

As adults, we must support the creative work of youth, cede power where possible, and uplift their visions for the future. To do this, we must understand the immense and expansive impact of creative youth on communities. Through this research initiative, young creative people, their adult allies, and a team of researchers have reviewed literature, data sets, and case studies – comprised of interviews, narratives, and artistic works – to examine the challenges and opportunities that exist at the intersection of arts & culture, community development, and youth development.