Support Art Education and Inspire Young Artists

Fall is an exciting time at YoungArts! After receiving a record of nearly 11,000 submissions to our national arts competition for artists ages 15-18 or grades 10-12, YoungArts is incredibly excited to welcome its newestcohort of winners and give them access to a lifetime of creative and professional support.  

On Monday, YoungArts will announce the 2025 YoungArts award winners—approximately 700 of the most accomplished young visual, literary, and performing artists from across the country.Each of these artists were evaluated by a panel of artists on their artistic techniqueand potential and nominated for cash awards of up to $10,000. All winners will receive access to a robust suite of creative and professional resources that will support them throughout their careers. The highest scoring winners—winners with distinction—are also eligible to be nominated to become a U.S. Presidental Scholar in the Arts, one of the highest honors given to high school artists by the President of the United States. YoungArts is the sole nominating agency for this program and will recommend 60 artists in the coming year, 20 of whom will be named the 2025 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts. 

In the new year, from January 5 to 10, 2025, YoungArts will welcome the highest scoring award winners to National YoungArts Week in Miami.At this all-expenses-paid, weeklong creative training program, young artists will participate in classes with distinguished guest artistssuch as theater and film actor Billy Porter (1987 YoungArts award winner in Theater) and mixed media visual artist Mickalene Thomas. Participants will also meet a network of peers and mentors and present their work to the public through nightly performances and exhibitions.Mark your calendar for theshowcases, which you can experience either in person in Miami or via livestream atyoungarts.org. 

Programs like National YoungArts Week provide early affirmation, confidence, and encouragementto young artists as they choose to pursue a creative career. With your support, we can empower the next generation of artists by equipping them with the resources they need to succeed. 

Links:

• Visit YoungArts' Website

As artists everywhere continue to seek affordable working space, YoungArts has launched a new residency program: four local artists have the opportunity to—at no cost—use space within YoungArts’ two-floorgallery to create and share their art with the community. This three-month residency (June-August 2024) gives artists the space and time to create new work or continue pursuing ongoing projects. Selected artists for the inaugural year of this program include James Kaun Balo (2018 Visual Arts & U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts), David Correa (2017 Visual Arts), Nichole Caridad Hernandez (2020 Visual Arts) and Isabel Oliva (2017 Visual Arts), each of whom responded to an open call to all YoungArts award winners residing in South Florida. Each artist received a dedicated portion of the gallery for workspace and a $3,500 honorarium. 

This opportunity is designed to support artists working in any mediumor subject matter: Balo is creating collaged textile backdrops that will be featured in the set design from “Are There Palm Trees in Heaven?” film adaptation;Correa is questioning the modes of display for his performance work, aiming for theatrical and narrative driven spaces;Hernandez is expanding on her exploration of iron’s alchemical and historical properties by producing a series of large rusted mig-weld drawings; andOliva is creating a series of paintings and handmade tapestries that reflect the wild nature of the artificial realms in her body of work.  

During the residency, each artist has been invited to activate the space with a public event specific to their practice and participate in programming opportunities while engaging the local Miami community. 

In June, Oliva hosted a natural dyeing and painting workshop where guests got an inside look into the process of creating botanical inks with natural plants, seeds and flowers and had the opportunity to create their own work with the inks created during the workshop.Hernandez’s workshop, which took place in July,invited guests to see her working space and witness a demonstration of her alchemical procedures, ranging from forging heat to conjure color in our natural metals to oxidizing steel to create a big dye print of the composition and dust of Mars.   

In August, Balo will host an experience of breaking bread amongst close family and friends where he will speak to his residency experience and perform a reading of select pieces from “Are There Palm Trees in Heaven.” Also in August, Correa willinvite the Miami community to engage in an exhibition-like framework where they will witness the artist’s sculptures and watch the premiere of a short film he has been developing.For details on upcoming public workshops, please visit youngarts.org.  

YoungArts is grateful to contribute to our local creative community by supporting these four local Miami artists and looks forward to continuing this program in the fall!  

Links:

• Visit YoungArts' Website