Young Aspirations/Young Artists


		YA/YA (Young Aspirations/Young Artists), Inc. is a non-profit arts and social service organization whose mission is to provide educational experiences and opportunities that empower artistically talented inner-city youth to be professionally self-sufficient through creative self-expression. Since its founding in 1988, the YA/YA studio-gallery has provided young artists who have limited access to educational resources and career opportunities 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.
		YA/YA has received extensive media exposure with features in Fortune, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Elle Décor, and ArtNews, as well as MTV's House of Style, Sesame Street, and NBC's Today show. In 2002, YA/YA was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show as a recipient of the Angel Network "Use Your Life Award."
		Who are the YA/YA artists? YA/YA artists are New Orleans area youth, ages 14-24, who have an interest and talent in visual arts. YA/YA maintains an active core group by recruiting from Orleans Parish high schools. Students participate in YA/YA programs after school, on the weekends, and during the summer. Opportunities to travel, earn money, intern, and lead projects increase as the artists grow and develop. What do they do? Since its inception, thousands of young artists have taken part in YA/YA with several continuing their professional artistic development in adulthood and emerging as community and business leaders. Some have gone on to study at nationally competitive colleges, such as the School of Visual Arts, Parsons School of Design, and the Savannah College of Art and Design. Many of these young professionals return to the organization to serve as staff, board members, and artists mentors. Students participating in the studio workshops create original artwork for sale in YA/YA galleries. They earn 50-80% of their art sales with the balance invested back into program costs and post-secondary education funds. Through this model, students learn valuable entrepreneurial and leadership skills by managing their own art sales and by serving as directors for exhibits, murals, and art contracts. Throughout its history, YA/YA has also worked on large-scaled product and promotional design projects with clients such as Swatch Ltd., the United Nations, Hammacher-Schlemmer, Burger King, Wembly Tie Company, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the Italian design firm Alessi. YA/YA artists have attracted national and international commissions, travel, and exhibition opportunities. Venues in Cologne, Zurich, Aix-en-Provence, London, Milan, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and numerous other cities have hosted YA/YA artists as they exhibit their artwork, intern in studios, or lead projects. Such recognition has inspired other communities to establish similar programs including Space One Eleven (Birmingham, AL), Say Sí (San Antonio, TX), and SeeSaw Studio (Durham, NC).