Radio Arte WRTE 90.5 FM
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum

Jesús Echeverría and Mayra Ochoa edit a segment of Radio Arte's programming.

Photo: Radio Arte Staff

From Chicago, Radio Arte WRTE 90.5 FM, America's only Spanish-English, Latino-owned, youth-operated, 24-hour community-broadcasting radio station, is attracting attention everywhere—from Mexico to the nation's capital—as a national model in engaging and empowering youth through the art of media.

An outreach project of the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, WRTE encourages student operators, managers, and deejays to delve into "the art of radio" through a two-year program that explores cultural and community issues. One current WRTE project, for example, Camino Tierra Adentro, is a live talk program with local artists and representatives from arts organizations.

Each year, 120 students enroll in the station's training program. They advance from phase one—six months of study in creative writing, voice training, and a Federal Communications Commission course in broadcast theory—to phase two, in which the budding broadcasters learn to use equipment made for radio production and editing.

Finally, in phase three, students plan, develop, and maintain their own on-air programs for one year. Through their involvement with Radio Arte, students become aware of community issues and develop both decision-making and leadership skills. They also bring a youth perspective to cultural and community issues in the Metropolitan Chicago area.

Throughout their training, students work with professional broadcasters in radio, television, and print, giving them direct access to journalists from leading Chicago media outlets. After successful completion of this program, participants are encouraged to find related radio internships in the Chicago area. Since the station's founding in 1996, WRTE students have gained accolades for their productions. An ABC-TV special featured WRTE in Tapestry: Generation -, reporting on the successes of young Latinos in Metropolitan Chicago. And in April 2002, Radio Arte received two Excellence in Production awards from the National Federation for Community Broadcasting. Many graduates of the program have gone on to successful careers in broadcasting; others have used the experience to pursue higher education.