Youth-Art-in-Action
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Established in 1997, Youth-Art-in-Action is an intensive, year-round program offering youth ages 14ñ19 the opportunity to create public art projects that enrich the lives of participants and help strengthen ties to their neighborhoods. Each week, these young artists work and learn with the faculty and students of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Interaction with visiting artists from local communities deepens the students' connection to neighborhoods and provides role models reflective of the students' own culture and ethnicity.

Youth-Art-in-Action is a unique collaborative program of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth. The program benefits youth from immigrant and refugee communities throughout Boston by increasing their understanding of their heritage and fostering an expanded vision of their educational and career potential.

Public Art/Public Action, a biweekly class, allows participating teenagers to work side by side with their museum school counterparts to develop and create a variety of public art projects. Each week, the young artists also work in a community, interacting with residents to gather impressions and insights that are then incorporated into the artwork. Throughout the program, professional artisans, such as Cambodian artist Yary Livan, mentor the students. Livan is a potter, sculptor, painter, and architectural designer. Furthermore, Livan is the only surviving master of traditional Cambodian ceramics and kiln building in America.

Throughout the course of their projects, the teens of Youth-Art-in-Action take full responsibility for the sculptures and murals that they create. The student artists research the subject and materials; reach decisions on the content, audience, and venue; and design and install each piece. The scope of the program allows students to develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as hone their artistic talent.

By utilizing the complex and collaborative activities involved in the creation of public art, Youth-Art-in-Action instills participants with a greater awareness of their heritage and teaches them skills necessary for their success in school and in life.