ILLUMINATE. CHALLENGE. INSPIRE.
The making of one of the nation's most successful youth arts programs.
Watch TrailerBefore Hurricane Katrina catapulted New Orleans into the media spotlight, one of the most successful arts programs for teenagers in the country thrived in a downtown neighborhood. Young Aspirations/Young Artists (YA/YA, Inc.) regrouped after the levees failed and continues to offer life-changing opportunities and lessons in entrepreneurship to artistically-talented young New Orleanians. This film is the story of how YA/YA, Inc. was founded and shows how, given the right tools and a fertile environment, motivated young people can do extraordinary things.
The young artists of YA/YA paint true stories about their own lives, and create murals, fine art pieces, poetry and rap music that speak out on racism and reflect on community values. YA/YA, Inc. teaches these kids the chance to the chance to apprentice with professional artists, create public artworks, design merchandise, serve as cultural ambassadors, work as project managers, and mentor others in the arts. Ultimately, these kids learn to be professionally self-sufficient through creative self-expression. A powerful case for what happens when a great teacher empowers young people to find their own voices and shows them that they are indeed part of a larger world.
As a model for empowering at-risk youth through art, YOUNG ASPIRATIONS/YOUNG ARTISTS is impressive indeed. All that's really required is a little time and caring...highly recommended.
Video Librarian
This documentary clearly and dramatically shows what can be accomplished by gifted, dedicated teachers, working in ways that help fire young minds.
Joseph Henderson, M.D.
Community & Family Medicine
Dartmouth College
YAYA, Inc is still a thriving arts organization for youth in New Orleans, LA.
Jana Napoli's most current work with youth, reflecting on the losses of Hurricane Katrina, and asking, "What do you take with you when you must flee? What do you put back when everything is lost?"
FloodWall: A tribute to New Orleans by Jana Napoli
"Floodwall restores to us a part of what the levees of New Orleans shattered. A giant sculptural installation of household drawers...it stands as witness to the magnitude of devastation, but equally, to the transformative power imbued even in the detritus of daily life."
Out of print, but still findable.
Visit the official website for Young Aspirations/ Young Artists
Appropriate for: Middle School High School College/University
Special Features:
DVD includes BOTH the 56 minute version and the 32 minute classroom version, PLUS a new retrospective documentary, YAYA @ Twenty, which shows many of the original YAYA artists in their lives today.
Subject: Media, Art & Culture
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