In Bloom: Youth Arts Festival - Behind the Scenes
Join us for the Spring 2025 In Bloom: Youth Arts Festival at the ARTS Center on May 3rd from 12PM to 3PM. Check out the cool Illustration by ARTS on Campus Teaching Artist, Adriana Quezada 👀
Today, we're excited to give you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at our Spring 2025 In Bloom: Youth Arts Festival preparations. This culminating event celebrates creativity, expression, and community among the young artists in our programs.
Every session, the Youth Arts Festival is the highlight of our programs, and it’s all about celebrating the fantastic work created by young artists in our community! Our incredible teaching artists work collaboratively with the youth in their classes and project teams to choose the projects they want to showcase and how they want to share them with friends, family, and the rest of our community.
We will be showing work from almost 500 youth artists and we’re super excited to bring more fun, interactive elements to this session! Get ready for engaging workshops, youth-led art tours, and collaborative art projects where everyone can join in and share their creativity - all uplifting our Spring 2025 theme: "Creativity in Nature."
At Community ARTS, we celebrate creativity in all its forms! Our young artists engage in a variety of art mediums and hands-on workshops, showcasing everything from sewing and sculpture to music and painting. These activities highlight both the collective and individual power of creativity for self-expression and community building. The dedicated teen artists in this program meet at the ARTS Center twice a week and have been honing their skills and preparing their art pieces to share with the community throughout the session.
Progress and examples of the many different types of art you will find from our Community ARTS team at Saturdays event!
ARTS on Campus will feature all 10 National School District campuses and we are pleased to present work from our youngest program participants from our K - 1st Grade afterschool program at Central and El Toyon Elementary schools in National City. You’ll find an inspirational theme across the work from all 11 of our afterschool campuses, highlighting the wisdom and strength of nature.
Mock ups and illustrations from our ARTS on Campus team for their Youth Arts Festival presentations
Through our work with high school students in the Juvenile Court and Community Schools, along with our involvement in the Juvenile Diversion Initiative, ARTS 4 Justice explores themes of growth and transformation, highlighting how nature demonstrates that blossoming is always possible. By examining our connections to ourselves and to each other, we can create something truly beautiful.
Progress of the “Bienvenidos” mural from our JCCS Global class and mockup illustration of the “Growing in Uncertain Circumstances” project from JCCS South class from our ARTS 4 Justice Juvenile Court & Community Schools Partnership
ARTS programs are elevated through partnerships with the City of National City, National School District, Chula Vista Elementary School District, San Diego County Office of Education Juvenile Court and Community Schools, Sweetwater Union High School District, and the National Conflict Resolution Center Juvenile Diversion Initiative and we are excited to present projects from each of these partnerships!
Community Engagement
One of the highlights of the festival is the range of workshops designed to engage and inspire attendees of all ages. These hands-on sessions allow participants to learn from professional teaching artists and youth artists with projects inspired by their own work. These creative workshops are an excellent way for anyone from any age to get a taste of our programs!
Check out photos from our past Youth Arts Festivals
Additionally, we are hosting panel discussions where our programs' young artists will share their personal journeys and discuss the transformative nature of creativity. These discussions are sure to inspire us all to pursue our creative passions.
Volunteers play an essential role in bringing the event to life. As part of our Community ARTS program, youth can earn community service, which they can use as a school requirement for graduation. At our last Youth Arts Festival in the Fall, we saw an overwhelming interest in our youth volunteers on the day of the event, showing how proud and eager the youth in our programs are to present their work to the community.
Interested in volunteering with ARTS? We are always looking for passionate individuals who want to help with various tasks related to these big events, from setup, registration, and assisting in workshops on the day of the event to helping us prepare the space and artwork to be displayed in the weeks leading up. Volunteering is a fantastic opportunity to connect with like-minded people and support young artists. Check out our recently updated volunteer program page for more information: www.areasontosurvive.org/volunteer
Join us for the Spring 2025 In Bloom: Youth Arts Festival at the ARTS Center on May 3rd from 11AM to 3PM. This is the best time to check out everything we have to offer as an organization and an excellent opportunity to support young talent and immerse yourself in the creativity of our community! Stay tuned for more updates as we count down to the big day!
Youth Arts Festival promises to be a joyful celebration filled with performances, exhibitions, youth artist panels, and various engaging activities. Attendees can expect to see the incredible work of young artists showcased in every space of the ARTS Center. We've also included areas for relaxation and creativity, where guests can unwind and even participate in spontaneous art-making.
Thank you for being a part of this amazing journey. We can't wait to see you at the festival! Remember to mark your calendars and spread the word. Let's make this year's event the best one yet!
As part of the branding for our event, we’re super excited to share our new initiative, ARTS Creative Collaborators! This program is all about showcasing the incredible voices and talents within our amazing team. We’d love for you to join us as a creative collaborator and bring your art and technical skills to our projects!
We’re especially thrilled to introduce our first Creative Collaborator in our project with the talented Adriana Quezada, who is an ARTS on Campus Teaching Artist and the brilliant illustrator behind our In Bloom: Youth Arts Festival branding! Adriana’s artwork added so much light and joy to our festival branding this season. We’re truly grateful to have such a talented and supportive team!
