The You[th]Pace Teen Art Council is a diverse group of 15 high school students from all over San Antonio who work at Artpace to explore ways to engage youth in the community through contemporary art. Students get a first-hand perspective of the artistic process, becoming advocates for contemporary art through interactions with Artpace Artists-in-Residence as well as exhibiting artists, helping to connect and engage other teens in the San Antonio area with Artpace. The year culminates with a student-driven Capstone Project, giving students the opportunity to produce socially engaged art.
On Sunday, May 17, the 2014-2015 You[th]Pace Teen Art Council presented their year-end Capstone Project—a Pop-Up Souvenir Shop that shared alternative perspectives of San Antonio using the medium of traditional souvenirs to redefine how our city is represented to tourists. Each member of the group conceived original objects that reflect their personal experience of San Antonio. The objects were offered for sale at the Pop-Up Souvenir Shop at Brick Marketplace in the Blue Star Arts Complex. The students also presented an interactive art piece for the community to participate in—a “San Antonio Memory Map” where people were invited to write their memories of certain places in the city.
Taylor Browning, Artpace Assistant Curator of Education, Teen & University Programs, Zaneta Taylor, Artpace Teen Programs Intern, and artist Mark Menjivar mentored the You[th]Pace Teen Art Council during the past school year to help them create their Capstone Project. The mentors also created their own original souvenirs that were displayed alongside the student works.
