HIRING FOR TWO PROGRAM POSITIONS

Youth Art Exchange is currently hiring two program positions:

YAX's Director of Education + Programs will oversee YAX’s youth and community programming with the support of a team of program staff, faculty artists, and contracted artists. This position also oversees YAX’s program models and the professional development of program staff and faculty artists to further YAX as a leader in innovative arts education. YAX’s work is centered in racial equity, and that will be critical to all aspects of this position.

YAX's Program Manager is a vital member of the YAX team, managing across programs. The Program Manager provides program support, mentors our Youth Advisory Board, develops and curates special projects, educational activities, events and exhibitions in partnership with faculty artists and YAX staff.

YAX is launching new summer intensives for Middle + High School students!

Please note, we have changed our registration system to better manage enrollments and communicate with participants and families. Parents/guardians and students should complete the applications together as there are specific questions for both. If you need support completing an application, please contact info@youthartexchange.org.

We are launching new summer intensive programming for Middle and High School students. There is a fee for these intensives; however SFUSD students are able to apply for a financial need or racial equity scholarship. These programs support our core free after school programming!

Join YAX’s faculty artists and a group of youth artists for a week-long intensive dive into a visual arts discipline. Youth will explore their selected discipline, using contemporary arts methods and tools, completing individual projects and a collaborative piece. No experience required. All materials will be provided.

Hiring for Summer Faculty Artists

We're already getting ready for summer and are looking for faculty for our different programs and activities. In addition to hiring for specific positions, we have an ongoing open call for faculty applications. Read more below to find out how to apply.

YAX is dedicated to supporting its faculty of professional artists. Our practices for employing artists have been recognized by several San Francisco arts leaders as exemplary for supporting artists in the city. Our faculty is comprised of artists who are active in their practices in the Bay Area.

Application Process:
To be considered for a faculty position, please submit your resume and a cover letter describing your interest in the position, discipline and practice, vision for building a youth program in your discipline, dedication to working with youth in the arts, and relevant education and experience to apply@youthartexchange.org. For our summer program, please apply by February 15, 2023.

Lots of volunteer opportunities coming up!

Want to volunteer at YAX? We have a lot of opportunities for event volunteering, gallery, facilities improvement, and program support.

To volunteer for the Youth Arts Summit and the installation of our Dec-January exhibit, visit this sign up page.

To volunteer at the December 8th Open House + Reception, visit this sign up page.

At [x]space 5137 Mission St. we are looking for folks that could help repaint our walls that are in much need of retouching after our art shows and painting parties. Additionally, we have a fair amount of miscellaneous art supplies that could be made into "goodie bags" or "art care packages."

Fill out our general volunteer interest form here!

Any questions about volunteering? Want to help out with the [x]space projects? Get in touch with Rosie at rosalee@youthartexchange.org.

Call for Artist Proposals: Excelsior Gateway Billboard Project was due August 12, 2022

Youth Art Exchange (YAX) invites artists who live or work in the Excelsior District of San Francisco to submit an application for the upcoming Excelsior Gateway Billboard Project. The Excelsior Gateway Billboard Project is funded by a Community Challenge Grant. The Excelsior Gateway Billboard Project is a limited duration art installation on a 14’ x 48’ billboard on the border of Daly City and San Francisco, focused on welcoming people or saying goodbye to the Excelsior through large scale visual pieces inspired by or connected to the Excelsior. Digital versions of the pieces may also be on display through YAX and other partner websites and related social media channels. 

We are seeking 4 artists or artist teams (a collaboration of one or more artist) to participate in this project. A new artist or artist team will have their artwork featured every 8-10 weeks.  Established, emerging, and student artists are encouraged to apply.

Artist Compensation: Artists or artist team will receive $4500 for their participation if selected.

For more information on this opportunity, the request for proposals is available here:

Please circulate in your networks.

Youth Voices for Vision Zero SF

From SFMTA’s blog post:

Starting in the month of February, Muni buses and transit shelters will feature youth artwork illustrating Vision Zero traffic safety messages. The students are part of Youth Art Exchange (YAX), an arts-education non-profit based whose mission is to support San Francisco’s public high school students in becoming leaders, thinkers, and artists by sharing creative practices with professional artists. As part of Supervisor Norman Yee’s District 7 participatory budget process, YAX students consulted with SFMTA staff to develop traffic safety messages and artwork that reflect their experiences around traffic safety.

Themes highlighted through Youth Voices for Vision Zero SF include general traffic safety such as:

  • Yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

  • Slowing down.

  • Understanding that traffic deaths are preventable.

  • Watching for people biking.

  • Not blocking the sidewalk with a scooter.

The student artwork also included Covid-specific safety messaging to wear a mask while riding Muni.

Using street signs as inspiration, the students worked with mediums including hand-carved block prints, cyanotype (a printing process that uses light to create a cyan blue color, while areas that do not receive light remain white), and digital illustrations to create the final compositions.

YAX focuses on serving youth of color and low-income youth, and is rooted in the Excelsior neighborhood, which has a high concentration of high schools and the largest population of teenagers in the city. Because [x]space (Youth Art Exchange’s public arts hub) is within walking distance of high schools, and many of the students walk, bike and take Muni to [x]space to attend after-school programs, the students are uniquely positioned to speak about their experiences and insights regarding walking and biking.

Given the limitations of after-school program closures due to Covid-19, Youth Art Exchange closed its in-person activities and pivoted to digital programming in 2020. Youth artists worked remotely and collaboratively, meeting weekly to develop and design this body of artwork around the theme of traffic safety.

Spot these Youth Voices? Post a photo and tag @youthartx, @VisionZeroSF, #YouthVoicesforVisionZero

Artwork by:

Jodi, Abraham Lincoln High School

Hannah MacDonald, Lowell High School

Casey Tang, Abraham Lincoln High School

Summer 2020 Artwork and Exhibition Recording (Envision and ArtBUILD)

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On Friday, July 31, 2020 YAX held our virtual Summer Exhibition! We showcased the work of the San Francisco public high school youth artists in our two summer programs: ArtBUILD (architecture + music production) and Envision (printmaking + photography).

Both programs were supported by Opportunities for All. The Envision program created a zine about youth homelessness in San Francisco was supported by the Youth Empowerment Fund.

Read more to see the recording and presentation slides from both programs.

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Call for Black artists

YAX is calling for local Bay Area Black artists who are interested in participating in our inaugural month-long Black Artist Series. Artists will have the opportunity to have their art featured by YAX and lead one (1) 2-hour online community workshop open to the public. We are interested in all disciplines. Participating artists will receive a $300 stipend and up to $150 for materials.

Submissions are open immediately and will close Friday, July 31.

Interested artists can contact Amy Díaz-Infante at amy.diazinfante@gmail.com. Please submit:

1. Workshop Proposal (for a 2-hour online session)
Please describe your proposed workshop and include:
What will participants learn or take away from your workshop? What materials (if any) are needed to participate in your workshop?

2. Artist Statement
3. Samples Images (5-10) and/or Website and Social Media Links

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Black Lives Matter

Dear YAX community,

Black lives matter.

YAX stands in solidarity with the Black community and with those standing up against police murders of Black people, against systemic racism, anti-Black violence, and white supremacy. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that “a riot is the language of the unheard.” These words have become reality here in San Francisco and across the nation. YAX believes that the right to protest injustice and participate in civil disobedience is fundamental to a democracy. We must reject attempts to demonize or scapegoat those who are demonstrating for justice. As a youth arts organization, we believe that art is inherently political and we support our youth artists in using art as a way to voice their opinions and demand change at all times, especially now.

This coordinated and militarized police violence is happening during a pandemic in which Black people are dying at higher rates due to a system that has and continues to fail them. Anti-Black racism is not only a social justice issue, but it is a public health issue and one that is so deeply entrenched in our country. We should be demanding to protect and expand community-led health and safety strategies, instead of investing in police.

We are grieving, we are angry, and we must not be silent. Now is the time to speak out against the injustice and oppression that Black people have experienced for too long. It is not enough to not be racist. We all need to play an active role in building an anti-racist society and fighting for justice.

Please do whatever you can, whenever you can. We must all work to end anti-Black racism every day, not just in this moment.

We’ve listed resources below that we hope will help you take action in a meaningful way.

Take Action:

Legal support: For anyone protesting, write the SF Bay Area National Lawyers Guild hotline number (415) 285-1011 on your arms in permanent ink. If arrested, call the hotline from inside jail. If you witness an arrest, try to get the arrestee’s full name and date of birth and call NLGSF’s Legal Hotline: 1-909-4NLG (4654).

Donate to (read more)…

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YAX was awarded a 2020 Adobe Project Grant!

YAX was recently awarded a 2020 Adobe Project Grant! In partnership with TakingITGlobal, Adobe supports a global network of creative youth organizations that are working to ensure equitable access to creative education, and YAX is excited to be a part of this global network of grantees. This article on Medium features YAX, along with the other amazing organizations who received this grant.

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