Press Release:

For Immediate Release: June 29, 2006
Contact: Asali DeVan
YA/YA, Inc.
PO Box 52617
New Orleans, LA 70152-2617
tel 504-529-3306
interimdirector@yayainc.com

Nikelodeon’s Nick News with Linda Ellerbee
features YA/YA on “Children of the Storm”

Broadcast on National Television July 2, 2006

YA/YA (Young Aspirations/Young Artists), Inc., a New Orleans non-profit youth arts organization, will be featured on Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Children of the Storm, which will air Sunday, July 2, 2006, 7:30 p.m. CST, on Nickelodeon.

“ Katrina has shown these kids that it can all be gone in a moment, but through their hardship the children of New Orleans have learned what they’re made of,” said Ellerbee. “We must not forget these kids, or ignore them, or neglect them. We must, in fact, honor them.”

In Children of the Storm, kids share their reasons for returning to our city, known for its music, food and history and why it’s worth it to them to rebuild, even in the face of destruction, poverty and mountainous piles of trash. As we learn from them what it’s like to be back, we hear about YA/YA and the work the organization does to give kids a voice through art, music and poetry. YA/YA artists help students to tell their stories, to translate their hopes and fears, pains and joys into something tangible and though, not generally happy, beautiful.

Founded in 1988, YA/YA studio and gallery provides young artists, ages 8-24, with the chance to apprentice with professional artists in media that range from furniture design to painting, screen-printing, fashion design, and computer graphics. Modeled on the artist guild system, the program moves participants in calibrated steps from apprentice to guild master, with senior students mentoring the newcomers.

In January 2006, YA/YA launched new studio arts programs, reviving programs since their suspension in the months after Hurricane Katrina. YA/YA now reaches more than 80 youth weekly who need meaningful activities in safe and supportive environments. Through on-going partnerships with the University of New Orleans and New Orleans Outreach, which works to improve the quality of public education through programs that respond to the particular needs of schools, YA/YA now offers after-school and summer arts programs to three open-enrollment charter schools. Integrated into the curriculum of these projects is the belief that New Orleans youth need the cathartic power of art-making to mourn their losses, celebrate their cultural heritage, and express their own vision for the rebirth of New Orleans. To learn more about YA/YA, visit the website www.yayainc.com

YA/YA is supported in part by awards from the State Arts Council through the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts; and a Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans, and a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council – both grants administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans; the Lupin Foundation; Americans for the Arts, The Estelle Friedman Gervis Family Foundation, and contributions from Michael’s: The Arts and Crafts Store; the Horne Family, the Napoli Family, University of New Orleans through the 21st Century Learning Community Center program, Oprah’s Angel Network’s “Use Your Life Award”; and the Friends of YA/YA.