This month, the Lamorinda Arts Council launched their Youth Ambassador Program, a program dedicated to uplifting young writers in Bay Area high schools by providing students with access to professional mentorship, networking within literary fields, and the ability to share their work while gaining relevant experience.
The Lamorinda Arts Council (LAC), founded in 1950 as the Orinda Arts Council, is a Contra Costa-based organization that seeks to uplift and support the visual, performing and literary arts within the area. Since its inception, it’s contributed to the arts in schools and the broader community through donations to artistic endeavors, hosting and funding events and the creation of numerous programs that benefit and aid local artists. Its latest, the Youth Ambassador Program (YAP), led by student ambassadors in addition to their mentors, specifically focuses on high school students in the Bay Area with literary ambition.
“The YAP program was created to help introduce youth creatives to relevant opportunities, both sponsored by the Lamorinda Arts Council and otherwise,” Emily Jingzhu Bennett, a senior at Acalanes High School and cofounder of the program, explained. “Such events include open mics, competitions, exhibitions, mentorship and more.”
Bennett was inspired to found the program alongside her collaborator, Emma Wong, a senior at Miramonte High School, after noticing a lack of young writers engaging with the opportunities and events the LAC had to offer.
“We were just really excited to kind of build this community within the Lamorinda Arts Council,” Wong said. “Going to those, let’s say, the Art Embraces Poetry events, we didn’t see anyone else our age, and we really wanted to bring that to the program.”
One of the YAP’s primary focuses is to make sure high school students interested in writing have access to opportunities that allow them to grow as writers and participate in literary activities.
“[The program hopes to target] those who are deeply passionate and proactive about their crafts, but may not have access to helpful information and resources. I know if I didn’t have my mom, I wouldn’t have been able to find out about a majority of the competitions and opportunities that have been so vital to my path as an artist,” Bennett said. “There are so many people out there who have all the makings of successful and accomplished artists, but, for one reason or another, can’t find or use the tools they need to fulfill their potential. We hope to nurture such young artists.”
One such tool that the YAP hopes to provide is a program that connects high school students with graduate students in Master of Fine Arts programs, both for mentorship and publishing opportunities. Additionally, the program will host in-person open-mic events available to teens, which Wong hopes will allow more young people, including those who attend DVHS, to share their work and build their confidence.
“As an officer of the DVHS Writing Guild, it’s pretty bizarre to me that we really are one of two creative writing clubs on our campus that consists of nearly 200 clubs,” Melanie Chan, the president of the DVHS Writing Guild, said. “Devoted members showing up every single meeting is proof that there are students who love to write and are looking for guidance. Two clubs isn’t enough to provide this mentorship and fuel these interests.”
Allowing students to connect with other artists within their community is another feature of the program. Outside of creating and featuring opportunities for students interested in literary fields, the YAP seeks to create a safe space for young writers.
“It does have that mentorship program, but also, we have a digital server via this app called Discord where teen writers and artists can really share their feedback, and get advice from each other on let’s say, like, competition-submitted stuff,” Wong said. “And the goal of our program is always to uplift young voices in the arts and really create a community from within.”
The YAP’s efforts focus on the tri-valley area of Orinda, Moraga and Lafayette, but also extend to the Bay Area as a whole, specifically San Ramon with the help of student ambassador Sharanya Roy, a sophomore at DVHS. This was especially fundamental to the development of the program due to the current focus on STEM-based activities and extracurriculars in Bay Area high schools, along with the observed lack of creative opportunity, despite, according to the YAP, its importance.
“I do not think we emphasize this enough—art programs are too often under-funded and neglected by school administration, and many [extra]curriculars leave no room for students to think outside the box or innovate,” Bennett said. “Creativity is the direct relative of empathy, of problem-solving, of entrepreneurship, of the basis of human nature; STEM is vital to education, absolutely, but while it can teach us a lot about the world, it can’t teach us everything.”
Chan’s experience at DVHS has been similar, especially when it comes to the guidance available to her and her fellow writers.
“I definitely think we are in a very [STEM-heavy] school. For students who enjoy writing, as I do myself, it’s a bit of a whirlwind wanting to write but not knowing what to do with it, or even how to approach it,” she said. “I think the YAP is a wonderful opportunity for other artists, especially in the very [STEM-heavy] DVHS, to find guidance and a community with other artists.”
The Youth Ambassador Program has already begun working with high school students. Posters will soon be distributed in schools advertising the Discord server, and the program is also beginning to reach out to colleges in order to connect with students in MFA programs to build up their mentorship program. Additionally, Bennett emphasized that the YAP is in its earliest stages, and plans to branch out to even more artistic fields as time goes on.
“We are currently most focused on writers and visual artists, but hope to focus on other disciplines like music, singing, and the performing arts more in the future as our community grows,” she said.
