Online classes start Monday, March 23rd!

Dear YAX friends and supporters,

We hope this message finds you healthy and positive in these rapidly changing times. We, of course, are feeling the impact of social distancing, but we understand that the best thing we can do to protect ourselves and each other is to take dramatic action now. Despite fear and anxiety regarding the unknown, we have seen some amazing images and stories from all over the world, showing people singing from their balconies, applauding their healthcare workers, and supporting each other and coming together as a global community. We should never forget our shared humanity and our hopefulness and optimism in times like these.

We also want to take a moment to give a shoutout to our amazing faculty! This past week has been challenging for everyone, and we are committed to supporting our faculty both personally and professionally. We are constantly amazed by the great ideas faculty have shared in how they want to move their classes forward, and we are doing what we can to support those ideas. Starting next week, YAX students will be able to take their classes during their regularly scheduled class times, and we’re so grateful to our dedicated faculty and program staff for working quickly to make this happen! We'll also be hosting some online workshops open to the entire community, also led by our very own YAX faculty - stay tuned for more information!

Read More

San Francisco: Stay home except for essential needs starting March 17

The City of San Francisco issued a Public Health Order requiring people to stay home except for essential needs.

Vulnerable populations must stay home. Everyone should stay home except to get food, care for a relative or friend, get necessary health care, or go to an essential job.

It is OK to go outside for walks if you are not in a group.

Stay at least 6 feet apart when leaving your home for essential activities.

This order is in effect until April 7.

It may be extended depending on recommendations from public health officials.

More information and answers to questions you may have: https://sf.gov/stay-home-except-essential-needs

Read More

ANNOUNCEMENT: YAX CLOSED UNTIL APRIL 6 OR FURTHER NOTICE

03/12/2020
Youth Art Exchange is cancelling the next 3 weeks of program and events. Our plan is to restart all of our regular programming on Monday, April 6 or until further notice. This is following SFUSD's decision to close all schools due to COVID-19 beginning Monday, March 16 through the end of regularly scheduled spring break (which ends Friday, April 3). Our after school classes and all events at [x]space arts hub are cancelled until April 6 and we will update with more information. (415) Public Gallery is also going to be postponed and will not be happening in April. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Read More

EPA: Excelsior Public Art - Free Painting Workshop with KB at [x]space, January 18 photos

Youth Art Exchange's [x]space arts hub
in , ,

On January 18, 2020, [x]space arts hub resident artist KB held a free painting workshop as part of Youth Art Exchange’s EPA: Excelsior Public Art quarterly event. More than 20 people, including families and children, came to learn how to paint at our meat market-turned-arts space at Mission and Geneva – one mother and child even traveled from San Jose for the workshop! Photos by Xavier Brockman.

Read More

Starting the new year with our new Executive Director!

At the end of this year, we are saying goodbye to our incredible Executive Director, Reed Davaz McGowan. Reed joined YAX in 2013 (when we were still called Out of Site) and her vision and creative energy have guided YAX to grow and thrive through doubling our budget and the number of youth we serve each year, and now moving into our new locations. We will miss her dearly and are looking forward to her upcoming adventures in Oregon.

We are so excited to announce that Raffaella Falchi Macias will be our Executive Director starting in January 2020. Raffaella is our Deputy Director and has worked at YAX for 13 years, and her artistic and programmatic visioning has shaped our organization into what it is today. YAX friends and family have gotten to know Raffaella over many years. From spearheading our design/build initiatives as our architecture faculty artist to teaching dance and bringing Carnaval to our students - and our students to Carnaval - Raffaella has been an artistic and programmatic visionary. She transitioned into program leadership as our Director of Programs and held that role for nearly a decade before becoming the Deputy Director earlier this year. Read more.

Read More

YAX artists at Teen Takeover! Techno Dreams at Contemporary Jewish Museum: Photos

Contemporary Jewish Museum
in ,

YAX youth artists participated in Teen Takeover! Techno Dreams on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, hosted by Teen Art Connect. Urban, a Music Production alum, DJed and Dalya, a YAX Fashion Design student and Youth Advisory Board member, showcased her designs with her models!

Photos by Dallis Willard. Courtesy of The Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Read More

In Memory of Pablo Ramirez

Pablo made a lasting impact on our organization and for all those that met him. As a young person, Pablo was able to participate in arts education and carry that through his life as a skateboarder, artist, musician and friend. His creativity was collaborative and contagious, and demonstrates the impact of the arts in his life as a young person. While our connection to Pablo was brief, the impact of his art is lasting.

Read More

YAX In the News: Our Pipelet Parklet in The Toronto Star

in

YAX In the News: This Toronto Star article highlights our "pipelet parklet" made of pipes and reclaimed wood currently built by our Advanced Architecture Firm students. The parklet was installed in the Mission outside John O'Connell High School in 2017.

Huge thanks to everyone who made this parklet possible: our Architecture Firm youth architects; Kali Gordon and Craig Hollow, former YAX Architecture faculty artists; Chris Wood, YAX Construction Adjunct Faculty from John O'Connell High School; Robin Abad Ocubillo, YAX Board Member and Urban Designer with the San Francisco Planning Department; and John Francis, manager of the San Francisco parklet program.

Read More

Sealed for 10 Years, an Excelsior Butcher Shop Becomes a Vibrant Teen Art Space

KQED music editor Nastia Voynovskaya visited YAX to write about our creation and transformation of [x]space. The article, Sealed for 10 Years, an Excelsior Butcher Shop Becomes a Vibrant Teen Art Space, showcases how we created a “vital space for diverse student artists”. The piece shares the importance of this type of space in San Francisco and its importance to youth. It was also picked up as a feature in the New York Times California Today newsletter. We want to emphasize that we couldn’t do this work without support from the YAX philanthropic community. Donate to keep our work going.

Spring 2019 Exhibition: Belonging photos

[x]space arts hub
in , , , ,

Photos from the opening of our Spring 2019 Exhibition: Belonging. Youth Art Exchange spring 2019 students, family, friends, and YAX community gathered at [x]space arts hub on May 3, 2019. Work was showcased by Spring 2019 YAX students of all disciplines: Architecture Firm, Industrial + Product Design, Black + White Photography, Fashion Design, Filmmaking, Music Production, and Printmaking classes. Students sold their work, there was a live block printing activity, and we celebrated the end of another successful YAX program!

Read More

YDM: Youth Digital Music Festival 2019 photos

[x]space arts hub
in , ,

Photos and videos from the second annual Youth Digital Music Festival at [x]space arts hub on May 3, 2019.

Youth Art Exchange brought together young musicians from across the San Francisco Bay Area for the second annual YDM: Youth Digital Music Festival at [x]space arts hub.

YDM is a showcase featuring live performances, DJ sets, original music from Bay Area youth musicians, and a raffle for an Ableton Live Standard license. Built to be inclusive, YDM stands alone as a youth-led music festival now in its second year. It is a unique opportunity for young musicians to showcase work in front of a supportive audience of peers and music professionals. Youth from multiple organizations in the Bay Area come to network and collaborate as they transition into possible careers in multimedia and the arts.

Performers included The DJ Project, Today’s Future Sound, Xanubis, Last Minute Entertainment, and Youth Art Exchange music production students. Bay Area luminaries speaking at YDM included DJ/Producer Ray Reck and KQED Arts editor Nastia Voynovskaya.

YDM is presented by Youth Art Exchange and supported by the Youth Empowerment Fund and Ableton.

Read More

Summer 2019 recap: ArtBUILD, Filmmaking, Music Production, and Printmaking

in , , ,

On August 1, we celebrated our Summer Exhibition: Growth at [x]space which showcased the work by all our summer intensive students from: ArtBUILD (architecture + fashion design for rising 9th graders), Filmmaking, Music Production, and Printmaking. Below are photos from the exhibition as well as from throughout the summer! Thank you to all our amazing summer youth artists! You can see more from this summer on our Instagram.

Our ArtBUILD students built living walls, thanks Flora Grubb Gardens for donating the plants!

Read More

Celebrating grants awarded by the California Arts Council!

Celebration time! The California Arts Council awarded YAX an Artists in Schools grant to support our faculty to teach during the school day at Leadership High School, as well as an Artists in Communities grant to support YAX faculty and community artist residencies at [x]space arts hub, as part of its biggest investment in arts and culture statewide since 2001. Get all the details in the CAC’s latest press release: tiny.cc/CACGrants2019

Read More

Congratulations to YAX student Valentin Nguyen!

in

Valentin Nguyen, a graduating senior now on her way to UCLA, received a $1000 scholarship that the Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals provides to one graduating female identifying senior from YAX each year. Valentin also received a Congressional Art Award from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her piece “I am a star?”. Her piece “I Want to Afford to Live” also hung in the San Francisco City Hall’s San Francisco Youth Commission exhibit this spring. This photo of Valentin was taken by one of our photography students and faculty at our pop up portrait studio at [x]space, our arts youth hub. We are so proud of Valentin, who took classes with YAX for years, and are happy to see her work recognized and celebrated! You can see more of Valentin’s work at instagram.com/val.in.teen.

Click to see photos of Valentin and her work!

Read More

YAX on the radio! Youth Advisory Board members on KALW: "Looking at Education" with Carol Kocivar

in

Carol Kocivar from KALW local San Francisco public radio spoke with two of our Youth Advisory Board Members, Mia Deno from our Fashion class and Fiona Gray from our Printmaking class, and our Program Manager Sofia Airaghi at [x]space arts hub on "Looking at Education." Listen to learn about our free arts programs for San Francisco public high school students and why YAX is necessary for San Francisco youth.

Fiona and Mia speak about how when they started taking classes at Youth Art Exchange, they had no experience with printmaking and fashion design, and YAX gave them the resources, mentorship, and confidence to pursue these art forms and develop leadership their skills.

Click here to listen!

Read More

Be Seen: Bay Area LGBTQ Youth Art Show - Call for Submissions

[x]space arts hub
in ,

Bay Area LGBTQ Youth - Submit your art by June 20 to Be Seen: Bay Area LGBTQ Youth Art Show!

Youth Art Exchange (YAX) is looking for submissions of art made by Bay Area LGBTQ youth! YAX is celebrating LGBTQ Pride with Be Seen: Bay Area LGBTQ Youth Art Show at [x]space arts hub in the Excelsior in June. Be Seen will be a space for LGBTQ-identifying youth under 25 years old to show their artwork and be seen, appreciated, and celebrated. It is a space especially for LGBTQ youth whose experiences and identities are marginalized and underrepresented, such as youth of color, girls, first generation youth, low-income youth, and youth experiencing homelessness.

If you’re interested in showing your work (in any medium - visual, audio, video, 3D, performance, written, etc), email Chantelle at chantelle@youthartexchange.org. Artwork must be submitted at [x]space (5137 Mission St) by June 20.

Read More