YUCA's T-shirt Design/ Silk Screening Workshop

In our continued effort to partner with community organizations and expand our artistic range of programs, YUCA in collaboration with the CIVIC school hosted a silk screen/t-shirt design workshop on Saturday, October 23rd. Held at the Highbridge food pantry, the afternoon included an overview of the silk screening process conducted by Tony and Grace Colon. They are Brooklyn-based graphic and textile designers who mesmerized the youth in attendance with their creativity and production expertise. Students went from being passive listeners into active learners, especially when they began to utilize the art supplies on hand to explore their own creativity. Tony was able to make learning practical, memorable, and yes - even fun! A big shout out also goes to crafts artist, Henry Peña who was on hand making sure the workshop ran smoothly. He was also able to arrange to have the entire session video taped, which we will post shortly. This workshop is the first in ongoing classes which are running through the end of this year, and will culminate in an exhibit/art fair slated for early Spring, 2011. CIVIC teachers, Adelaide Fuller and Misha Brown, brought the partnership to fruition when they met with YUCA's Executive Director over the Summer and agreed to organize these classes in the fall semester. This opportunity is particularly for YUCA and CIVIC students enrolled in community art classes. The students are learning professional technical graphic design skills and beginning to experiment as commercial artists. These classes are learning to use Photoshop to create t-shirt and poster designs that explore Scholars’ artistic identity. In order to actually screen print their designs, and expose our scholars to extracurricular arts opportunities, scholars will have to attend weekend YUCA classes. A screen printing machine and other specialized art-making tools are available at the YUCA studio. A YUCA board member will also work with scholars to develop business plans for the sales of their t-shirt and poster designs.  YUCA would like to thank everyone who helped to organize the event, especially the Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund for helping fund these activities.

YUCA joins effort to close Spofford

YUCA lent its support to the Close Spofford Campaign by joining concerned community members, parents, youth, activists, faith leaders, educators and others in hosting a community rally and speak-out to address youth and community concerns about New York City’s overreliance on jails and prisons.
The Spofford Juvenile Detention Center – renamed Bridges when it was reopened in 1998 – serves as an ugly reminder to the local community that New York City would rather invest in youth jails than in building and nurturing our youth.
Members of the campaign have been regularly meeting to organize greater community awareness around this issue throughout the last two years. YUCA artists helped brand the  initiative by creating collateral materials, a wide range of documents organizers used to promote themselves.

Bronx Defenders & YUCA team up

The month of June also included a new partnership for YUCA. The Bronx
Defenders and the YUCA arts organization came together to conduct a mural

workshop over a series of classes, as part of an ongoing community art program. The workshop was taught to budding artists, local middle school students in the Melrose section of the Bronx. It was an opportunity for youngsters to further hone their artistic skills in painting, while receiving instruction and supervision under a YUCA artist.

 It was great to see how those in the legal profession as well as artists can successfully come together and provide a much needed arts education venue for reaching our youngsters.

YUCA at Alianza Dominicana’s 20th Annual Youth Conference

YUCA’s Executive Director was invited to participate in Alianza Domincana’s 20th  Annual Youth Conference this past June. He conducted a visual art workshop which included a video presentation showing how the visual arts are employed and  can serve as a catylist for community empowerment and social transformation. Alianza Dominicana, Inc. is a non-profit community development organization that partners with youth, families, and public and private institutions to revitalize economically distressed neighborhoods.

The Art of Photography with Joe Conzo

On MAY 8th, 2010, YUCA students learned about the art of making pictures with Joe Conzo, a reknown Bronx photographer. Our workshop was an excellent introduction for students wanting to know more about the world of  photography. Mr. Conzo  gave an excellent talk about traditional versus digital photography, explaining in detail the basic elements of image making -  prerequisite for anyone looking to enter the industry. After years of taking pictures, Joe has developed an endearing and approachable technique, with an exceptional ability to connect and engage young people. He prepared a Powerpoint presentation of distributed samples of his photos that served as a teaching aid, visually reinforcing the engaging stories he told, intimate portraits of his experiences while taking pictures in the Bronx. In a very short time, youth  were totally focused and participating with a barage of questions for the veteran photographer. Thank you Joe for coming out and sharing your time and expertise.

Tats Cru visits YUCA Arts

YUCA sponsored a free graffiti workshop on April 24th, 2010 with a few of the artists who helped put the art form on the map! Tats Cru put their creativity on display and shared their techniques with younger artists. Bio and BG, two of the  original members of the group, were on hand to discuss their start on the streets of the South Bronx, and how the art form has evolved globally over the years. Many of the younger artists on hand found Tats Cru to be inspiring and a great source of information. For several youth it was the first time they ever met professional graffiti artists who have succeeded in an art career.
The artists were excellent in talking about their work and answering many of the questions asked by those in attendance. The workshop also went a long way in supporting YUCA’s mandate to create a community outreach program. By opening its doors to Highbridge youth, the YUCA program is working hard toward expanding its student enrollment. Judging from the overall response, the workshop was a great success and we hope YUCA students never forget this special event in their lives. Since grafitti education is almost non-existent in most school curriculums, the workshop was not just an interesting event, but it fulfilled a definite educational need. Our gratitude goes out to Bio and BG for sharing their time and art with our students!

The YUCA Arts program does plan to hold a similar art workshop for students in the future in conjunction with our Spring art exhibit, so be on the look out for the

forthcoming flyer.