Out Loud: Identities, Symbolism, and the Self

Over a period of ten weeks, eleven youths attended after-school workshops to explore identity and power through contemporary artmaking. As a group that reflects racial, neurological, gender and sexual diversity, these young people engaged in creative projects that addressed the multiple intersections of their identities. The participants worked with three professional artists and four peer mentors, queering concepts and mediums such as the body, environments, and time.

This cumulative exhibition showcases individual works as envisioned and constructed by each youth. By providing an artistic platform by which the greater community can access the young artists’ commentaries, the exhibition amplifies voices that are systemically silenced by our society. These artists claim their selves and their futures as their own by disrupting a museum history that has marginalized and excluded their communities.