Youth Art Team

CREATIVE JOB TRAINING - Youth Art Team employed young artists who received job skills training and additional leadership roles during programming such as summer camps. Some also took next steps toward the creation of audio tours to share about the team's existing public artwork. Youth Art Team offered 32 job shadow experiences that unveiled a variety of paths through schooling, whether trade school, associates or bachelors, or straight into work. A local foundation also commissioned a piece from a Youth Art Team artist who received professional artist experience through a real-world project. Youth Art Team's creative job training programs supported artists who (1) continued along their individual pathways toward high school graduation, (2) identified future employment goals, (3) gained professional experiences, (4) identified future employment goals, and (5) opened new doors for themselves beyond adolescence into adulthood.

Creative Youth Development - Youth Art Team maximized community resources to help artists successfully navigate adolescence and transition into adulthood. Staff and volunteers worked behind the scenes to address unmet critical needs, providing food, rides, school support, and mentorship. As a result, staff, volunteers, and families saw heightened self-confidence, improved mental health, and increased participation in extracurricular activities. Lead youth artists, the Imagination Coalition, made project recommendations to staff and informed organizational decisions by serving terms as youth board members with the Youth Art Team's Board of Directors. High expectations were set beyond art: artists committed to graduating from high school and received support from staff and volunteers in order to do so. Attending high schools with graduation rates of 43% and 95%, Youth Art Team's 2024 senior artists extended the organization's graduation rate to 100% for another year.

Youth Art Team was accepted into the Iowa Culture Leadership Cohort, a collaboration between the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Both the funding and the opportunities provided by the cohort program made it possible for Youth Art Team give attention to its infrastructure in 2024. Leadership recognized that, as an impactful grassroots organization that has grown rapidly for 14 years, it was necessary to commit resources in 2024 to the development of Youth Art Team's operations and sustainability. At the same time, one core staff member relocated out of state in 2024. Existing staff and lead volunteers filled the gap to ensure Youth Art Team could provide programming without a hiccup. Total programming dollars were lower in 2024 than in previous years, which is a reflection of the dedication of Youth Art Team staff and leadership, the belief that funders have in Youth Art Team's mission and long-term vision, and the efficiency and effectiveness of Youth Art Team programming in 2024.