Project Launch: 10-23-23

Artistic Noise uses art as a vehicle to present the voices and stories of young people whose lives have been impacted by the juvenile court system. In partnership with the School of Visual Arts (SVA), Art & Care will pilot a supportive entry point where young, system-impacted participants can be welcomed into a supportive, therapeutic environment centered around art-making as well as various forms of mutual aid and therapeutic support.

Art & Care takes the form of a weekly, mutual-aid-focused open group, modeled after the therapeutic ideals of drop-in care facilities. Created in collaboration with SVA, it is a youth-centered, weekly community art studio that increases opportunities for public engagement with young people whose lives have been impacted by the juvenile court system, foster care system, mental health care systems, and more. New and returning participants collaborate with a support team made up of art therapy students, licensed art therapists, mentors, and leaders from past and current Artistic Noise cohorts. This community-based, peer-to-peer engagement encourages participants to create art with one another and be part of a reciprocal support system. Young participants can engage with the support team based on whatever needs they identify. This engagement includes individual art therapy sessions, open studio time, assuming leadership roles, building job skills, public assistance enrollment, health resources, and more. Art & Care also offers opportunities for young participants to collaborate with their peers and the SVA support team to organize structured group art-making activities. These groups include mural-making, fiber arts, found object sculptures, skill shares, enclosed exhibitions, and can always be adapted according to youth interests. 

Tenets of Art Therapy are interwoven into every aspect of the programming that is created at Artistic Noise. Clinical rationale—which considers goals, strengths, and challenges—guides how individual and group sessions are conducted. The group is tasked with the care for and responsibility to the group itself. Through modeling, reflection, and redirection from the staff, the group practices creating and sustaining integration, safety, and maturity within the group dynamic. Artistic Noise is a necessary response to the systems that have been set up to keep our young people at a disadvantage. Our long-term care acknowledges this disparity while simultaneously providing the necessary assistance and trauma-informed support to bridge the gap between where they’re at and where they deserve to be. We will create an ecosystem that provides them the care and support that young people from more privileged spaces inherently receive. This is self actualized and happens on their own timeline, based on the depth of trauma, support needed, and reflection of their own experiences. Never being told where they “should” or “could be,” but rather an acknowledgement of what they truly deserve.