The Youth Arts Unlocked (YAU) non-profit has been providing incarcerated youths with arts programming for over a decade. This exhibition is intended to raise awareness of their organization, the need for their mission, and provide the public with a glimpse into the lives of these kids. It features photographs by Zackary Canepari, photographs by our Community Design Studio group, artworks created through their program, multiple videos, sensory and ethnographic experiences, and interactive elements. The Unlocking the Arts Exhibition occurred in the Riverbank Arts Center in March of 2023.
My role for this exhibition was a project leader and de facto project manager. I was one of four people who liaised with the Youth Arts Unlocked organization, put forth ideas for exhibition content/elements, prepared items for printing, and installed the exhibition itself. The lion's share of this exhibition was youth artwork and photography, which we chose to hang unframed in salon style to avoid accidently distancing it from the environment it was in which it was created in the minds of viewers. It also created some design challenges in composing the artwork arrangement. The YAU programs we showcased were visual art, yoga, spoken word, acting, and dance.
The artwork featured ranges from drawing to prints and blocks to watercolor paintings to sculptures. There are also videos of their dance and theatre performances.
Photo by Zackary Canepari. We combined our own photogrpahs, videos, and audio with those created by Zackary Canepari, a professional photographer whom YAU previously commissioned to create work which was featured at Buckham Gallery. They helped tell the story of the youths whose art was being showcased and express the mission of YAU.
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