Hip-Hop: Young Artists Take the Mic
Creative Advantage funding helps young people access the arts
November 01, 2016
By Afrose Fatima Ahmed. Read this story and more in Volume 2 (pdf) of Seattle Foundation's Heart & Science magazine.
“You gotta stay true to yourself
Even if the moon turns blue
Even if the stars disappear
Even if it’s only you left.”
-Lyrics to "Blue Moon," Ezrail Donnie, Jah, Travis & K'jahn
The chorus of “Blue Moon” dives deeply into the
immense challenges facing its teen artists: mainly
the difficulty of being a young black man in America,
justifiably indignant about the growing disparities facing
many of their communities, aware that if they lead with
emotion the world will quickly dismiss their words
and the messengers.
The song ultimately offers a positive message:
stay focused on one’s goals no matter what
obstacles may present themselves. “Blue Moon” is the
first track on the mixtape produced by the Hip-Hop Artist
Residency, launched during the summer of 2015. TheArtist Residency is a partnership between two
renowned, Seattle-based nonprofits: Arts Corps
and Experience Music Project (EMP), and the
local Grammy Award-winning duo, Macklemore
and Ryan Lewis. In 2016, the program offered a
three-week intensive camp for teenage hip-hop
artists that focused on creative songwriting,
performance techniques and beat production.
The Hip-Hop Artist Residency was born
out of a conversation between Ben Secord,
director for philanthropy and community engagement
for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Jonathan
Cunningham, manager of youth programs and
community outreach at the EMP Museum.
“[Ben] said, if you were to shoot for the sky, budget
excluded, what would you do? I thought about
my time here, my bucket list as a youth manager
[and said] I would really like to see a program
that is exclusively for youth that are low income,”
Cunningham says.
EMP offers a number of creative summer
camps for youth including Rain City RockCamp, a musical program for female-identified
youth; Scribes Creative Writing Workshops,
in partnership with Hugo House; and Sound
Design for Games, in partnership with Digipen,
where students compose music and sound
effects for games and animation.
While every summer camp program at EMP
offers scholarships for students with financial
need, they don’t always draw the diversity that
program managers desire, Cunningham says.
In visualizing a program targeted towards youth
that are low income, he emphasized
that it should not only be free, but eliminate
all barriers to access that might prevent a
young person from attending: transportation,
food and even a stipend to compensate
students who might otherwise need to
work during summers.
Arts at the Residency Showcase
Also very important is the creation of a safe
space for youth who have never attended a
summer camp or even entered a venue like
EMP. What are the requirements for creating
such a safe space? “Predominantly youth of
color. Predominantly teaching artists of color.
And a medium that speaks to them, which is
hip-hop or poetry,” Cunningham says.
Cunningham approached Arts Corps to ask
for their partnership for the Artist Residency.
“Arts Corps is the perfect partner for this.
They are already working with this population
on a more consistent basis than we are. Arts
Corps’ programming is always free."
“I wish there had been a program like this
when I was in high school,” said Ben Haggerty
(Macklemore). "There are so many talented
young artists in this city, and it was amazing
to see them come together and create a community. We need programs like this. If
we want this generation to be healthy, happy,
fulfilled, and to make progress, we all need a
way to express ourselves.”
Arts Corps offers a host of creative programs for
students K-12 that include dance, music, spoken
word, theatre and visual arts. The programs are
often offered as in-school residencies or as after-school programs, hosted in schools,
community centers and sometimes even
within neighborhoods.
Arts Corps serves approximately 2,500
students annually throughout King County. The
organization emphasizes justice, collaboration
and inspiration as values that imbue every
program they offer. Arts Corps was a 2015
grantee of Seattle Foundation’s Equitable Access
to Arts GiveTogether program.
Khabirah Weddington, 2016 Residency participant, performing
Towards the end of the 2014-15 school year,
Arts Corps and EMP sent out a call for youth
to apply to the pilot summer of the Hip-Hop
Artist Residency. More than 70 students applied
for 20 spots. The selection criteria for spots in
the program included financial considerations,
previous experience as hip-hop artists or
experience recording original music, and an
interview with the program managers and
teaching artists.
“We are ultimately looking for people with the
least access to these kinds of opportunities
around community work or social justice," says
Omani Imani, Arts Corps' program director.
“Young people who identify as artists. Young
people who have some interest or analysis
around community work or social justice.”
Lashaunycee O’Cain is one such young person. At
14, she was the youngest participant in the 2015
Hip-Hop Artist Residency. She has been singing
and writing for several years. “I started writing
when I was nine, after my grandma died… as a
way to take on the grief.”
O’Cain developed a love of singing from
her mother and sister, and began to write
rhymes and lyrics independently. Living in
South Park and attending Denny Middle
School, she had opportunities for more
traditional arts education such as band
and orchestra, but lacked the access and
resources to develop her passion for hiphop.
“I did clarinet and I was bad at it,” O’Cain
laughs. “I think I’m just going to stick to singing
and rapping ‘cause that’s what I’m good at.”
After going through an interview process
that she compares to The X-Factor, a television
singing competition that requires auditions
and a panel of judges, O’Cain was thrilled to
be accepted to the Residency program. She
spent two weeks receiving vocal coaching,
collaboratively writing songs with other youth,
recording in a professional studio for the first time
and preparing for a performance in
EMP’s state of the art venue, Sky Church.
The quality and depth of work accomplished by a
group of teens, who had not known each other or
even worked collaboratively prior to the camp, was
impressive. Imani describes a visit to the camp at
the beginning of the second week, “I walked in on
one group’s session and they were offering really
thoughtful feedback to each other. They were very
neutral, but very specific and concrete, and their
delivery was amazing… if adults could give feedback
in this way, we’d be in a much better place.”
Artists Katu Lindsay-Garvey, Angel Cielos, Ivanna Garza,
Esai Contreras and Bryce Villatoro-Thomas
When the camp concluded, the youth participants
expressed a desire to continue on with the program.
Cunningham compared not offering an ongoing
creative outlet to youth as “taking them halfway
across the river and leaving them there. And the
kids are looking at the other shore…”
In response, Arts Corps and EMP set up ongoing
professional development opportunities for young
artists called Monthly Ciphers, lasting through
December 2016. They have also doubled the number
of residency participants for 2016 and lengthened the
camp to three weeks. The number of teaching artists
have increased to accommodate the larger group, and
two interns were hired from last year’s cohort to serve
as student mentors, granting continued participation,
leadership and professional development experience.
The focus on building capacity among youth and
creating pathways for previous participants to take on
leadership positions is highlighted across Arts Corps’
teen programs. After the Artist Residency, O’Cain
entered Arts Corps’ nine-month Teen Leadership
Program. Participants in the program are involved in
organizing a series of Poetry Slams that culminate
in a Grand Slam competition. More than 650 people
attended the Grand Slam in 2016. The teen leaders,
with support from Arts Corps’ staff, are expected
to produce the events from conceptualization to
implementation – developing programs and marketing,
conducting outreach and hosting events. “It’s really led
by the young people and throughout the year they learn
how to do those different aspects of production and
management,” Omani says.
The programs are geared toward supporting young
people to see themselves as change makers who use
their art in service of social justice, as well as providing
the tangible professional experience they could use to
develop a career in the creative industries.
O’Cain’s maturity and thoughtfulness comes through clearly
in her art and in her presence. In her group’s song, “Be
Mine," the feeling of longing is palpable. This intensity
of emotion is present throughout the music produced
in the Artist Residency; deeply held, complex emotions
find an outlet in creative expression.
O’Cain is committed now to pursuing music
professionally and demonstrates the ethos of
giving back to community in her work. She is hoping
to return to the Artist Residency in 2016 as a mentor
and is continuing on in her work with Arts Corps’
leadership program. Reflecting on an end-of-year event
she helped organize at Youngstown, O’Cain recalls
wanting to thank supporters for their work
and demonstrate that when one gives to Arts Corps,
one receives priceless value in return in the form of
music, dance and poetry.
The Creative Advantage
A basic education that includes the arts is
mandatory in Washington state, but many
schools are not able to provide the necessary
class time. The result is that while there are
award-winning programs in some Seattle
public schools, many students do not have
consistent access to the arts as they move
through their school careers. The Creative
Advantage is a city-wide initiative to establish
equitable access to arts education for
each and every student in Seattle Public
Schools. Already launched in all schools
in the Washington Middle School area, The
Creative Advantage program will broaden
its reach into the city in the next several
years. Seattle Foundation is a founding
partner of The Creative Advantage, along
with the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts &
Culture and Seattle Public Schools. The
effort embodies the Foundation’s belief that
the arts are a crucial component of a strong
and vibrant community.
To learn more visit:
www.creativeadvantageseattle.org or contact Fidelma McGinn.
Heart & Science Magazine
Read Heat & Science magazine Vol. 2 for more on how philanthropists, community organizations and Seattle Foundation are working to create a healthy community through supporting the environment and arts & culture.
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