Art Team 2022

“This piece I created is titled “Vulnerable”. I got my inspiration from myself and many other Black women who can relate to the context of my piece. Being a darker skinned Black woman in America has left room for many other voices to build stereotypes, colorist remarks and injustice and inequality. The Black woman in this piece is simply being herself, but the issue is she has all these speakers around her telling her stuff she is not. They degrade her, sexualize her, ridicule her, all for being a Black woman. Malcom X once said, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” This piece is so sentimental to me because it portrays how strong Black women are even with the hardships they face on a day to day basis.”

Vulnerable, acrylic on canvas

“I have been a part of Art Team for 2 years now. Being part of a diverse, welcoming group, has taught me so much about its importance. Being a young BIPOC person, it is nice to have a group of people who have had similar experiences as you. As Art Team, it is relieving to have a space to talk about events and experiences that have affected us based on our race and ethnicity. Overall, I truly believe that being a welcoming and diverse BIPOC youth group is what makes Art Team so special.” -Dani, Art Team member

Paix, created with Photoshop

“Being a part of a BIPOC youth group is extremely important to me . It gives me room to be the individual I am and surround myself with people who can discuss what it means to be a BIPOC group comfortably. It allows me to build solidarity and holds a space of learning and awareness . It also includes more diversity and creates space for our BIPOC ideas and creativity . BIPOC is important to me because I can feel safe to talk about the racial injustices we have as a group face and what we are doing to resolve that .Being in a BIPOC group brings all our identities upfront and showcases our similarities, differences and connections.” -Mahawa, Art Team member

Varieties, acrylic on canvas

“Being part of a BIPOC youth group is important to me because not only do I feel actually welcomed, but it’s someplace where I feel like I can actually stand, hold my head up high and speak my piece while still being respected and safe. I would like to acknowledge that of course you will on occasion find someone you don’t get along with in any group, regardless of whether that group is BIPOC or not. That’s just what happens when working with others and being in a group with other people with different opinions. This segues into my other reason why being part of a BIPOC youth group is important to me.

As youth, being part of a group while you are still considered a youth means you can get more practice with working with others you don’t like or agree with. Not only this, but as youth we all can agree that we don’t have certain privileges other adults might have, and we know that sometimes we aren’t taken as seriously. With this in mind we know what it feels like to not be heard (especially if you are BIPOC), and when we have more voices and different opinions (however much we may disagree with them, as long as the disagreements are healthy) the more we can learn from each other. Knowing what it feels like you can’t be heard sucks, so being a part of a BIPOC youth group is a wake up call to my voice, telling me I don’t need to be afraid of speaking my words and just being ignored. I can speak up, be respected, be respectfully disagreed with, agreed with, and listened to.”-Mateo, Art Team member

Untitled, digitally created