Our Mission

YAYA's mission is to empower creative young people to become successful adults. We do this by providing educational experiences in the arts and entrepreneurship to New Orleans-area youth, and by fostering and supporting their ambitions.

The multi-faceted vision of YAYA includes bringing artistic experiences and education to new, young audiences and practitioners; imprinting youthful vision and aesthetics on the public face of New Orleans; and nurturing leadership and cultural ambassadorship through travel and public appearances.

We measure success at YAYA by the long-term stability and self-sufficiency of the young artists who work with us. Students who join YAYA for at least one year achieve exceptional rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, and professional success. We are proud that in the process of achieving these exciting results, we strengthen, beautify, and heal New Orleans as a whole.

YAYA artists are held to high standards of discipline, participation, and production. In return, the YAYA staff follows the artists' lead when designing projects; listens to their perspectives on emerging art trends; and allows for a broad spectrum of creative responses to the tasks and projects we assign. Throughout our history, our fundamental respect for, and human interest in, our participants has guided our organization. Our organizational structures support and build upon this respect, creating ever-growing opportunities for our artists. Read more about our programs to learn how we accomplish our exciting results!