Art Abolitionist Incubator

Access to Creative Industry Employment (sponsored by the Snap Foundation)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative

We aim to address the racial inequities in education and the silencing of BIPOC stories and experiences that are rooted in dominate deficit narratives of communities like Compton. Our work speaks to the danger of the limited narratives that exists of our communities and introduces young people to various art skills to abolish deficit narratives and develop complex stories that are reflective of both their community and experiences. Our mission is to disrupt the single and limited story of marginalized communities such as Compton by serving as a pillar in the community where our Black and Brown histories and art are honored and preserved. We aim to elevate youths' artistic skills and education to foster future art abolitionists. We aim to elevate youths' artistic skills and education to foster future art abolitionists. We envision a world where Black and Brown communities control their histories and narratives by reclaiming the power of their stories through the arts.

Color Compton is an arts and history organization grounded on theories and concepts of art making, storytelling, identity, community and history. Through youth internships and community workshops, we highlight the importance of storytelling and narratives throughout history while also introducing visual art techniques and mediums to empower each person to develop their own narratives. Our youth programming offers two main areas; Art Abolitionist Incubator (AAI) and Community Archiving Fellowship. In AAI, high school students participate in a multi-year cohort to build relationships, engage in critical dialogue and create their own stories using various art mediums. This program targets high school students. Year 1 is a culmination of our previous internships ; ThePower of Your Narrative, Local Story and In Bloom. - During this year, youth are introduced to art and history and engage in critical conversations on racial justice and literacy. - Year 2 is art skill building to better prepare students to develop an art project in response to the core and systemic issue. - Year 3 is the final instruction year that is more personalized to help youth build an art portfolio to apply to college or creative career positions. During the program, youth are also given Summer paid opportunities during the duration of the program. Additionally, youth participate in several overnight field-trips and meet with guest speakers.

Numerous stories and film projects have been developed and released in Hollywood about Compton and its surrounding communities. Unfortunately, these stories are seldom written, produced or directed by people of color or people from the community. We believe that by empowering young people from an early age, they can begin shifting this dynamic and reclaim control and ownership of their community's stories. Overall we feel that the greeted Los Angeles County will be impacted by this project through the amount of authentic stories being produced.

We are currently measuring our impact by the amount of projects completed, post-work surveys, and questionnaires that address issues of community, identity, arts and skills learned. Additionally, youth take turns in leading projects and assisting in other projects to develop both their leadership skills and collaboration skills. Finally, we also measure how many student applications we received during a new enrollment cycle as an indicator of need.