When twenty-one year-old Denise Wallace performed spoken word at the first-ever District 11 Artwalk on July 31, she saw herself as more than an entertainer. “Art allows me to understand the power and ability I have within myself and connect to other people,” she said. “I want to remind people from troubled homes that they are not necessarily limited. A lot of people in low-income communities use power destructively; using power positively, through art, is so much more powerful.”
Denise was one of dozens of young artists that participated in the evening Artwalk, held on Mission Street near Onondaga in the Excelsior neighborhood. Around 250 residents attended the free family-oriented event, which District Supervisor John Avalos and local residents organized to support area merchants and local artists. In a neighborhood with the highest percentage of youth in the city – but little space for recreational or creative activities – the Artwalk made room for young talent. “When I was knocking on doors, it seemed like every other house I visited, there was an artist there that didn’t have a place to showcase his or her work,” Supervisor Avalos said. “We wanted to be able to create space here for that.”
Geared in part towards supporting youth involvement in the arts, the event gave young artists and performers a chance to express their talents, concerns and visions. Young people played a starring role in the Artwalk, painting murals, performing bilingual hip hop, crafting sugar sculptures and exhibiting paintings and photographs.
Some youth participants said that art was a tool for learning about themselves and expressing their emotions. Others said that the event was an opportunity to participate in dialogue and break down negative perceptions of young people in the neighborhood. “Youth are stereotyped and put in a box,” said Jari Bradley, 20, who also performed spoken word. “Events like this totally break the stereotype and show that we actually have intellect…and we have something to say about what’s going on in our communities and how it affects us.”
Some young people said that the event also helped build connections among diverse neighborhood youth, increasing their sense of safety in a neighborhood with rising crime rates. “I think the [Art Walk] is bringing the youth together and showing them how everybody is pretty much the same, even though they might be different,” said Gio Colon, 17, a participant in Mission YMCA’s Top Chef program. “So you could feel comfortable when walking around the streets.”
The next district Artwalk, scheduled for December, will be another step forward for local youth.
