BAX Teaching Artist working on choreography with a YouthWorks participant February 2020.
YouthWorks Community Update for 2023
YouthWorks has been a cornerstone program of BAX Education for nearly 30 years. This unique program provides young artists the opportunity to develop their artistic voices, mirroring BAX’s professional artist in residence program for adult artists. Central to YouthWorks is also its intergenerational nature that brings young artists, teens, and professional artist coaches together to create art and provide mentorship to one another.
The 2021 and 2022 YouthWorks seasons experienced significant shifts and reimagining as we adjusted the program model due to COVID-19. In 2021, BAX ran a hybrid YouthWorkSTREAMS program over public school Spring Break and in 2022 BAX ran an intensive style version of the program over public school mid-winter recess. We took away valuable insights and lessons from these new program models; we also found ourselves missing fundamental elements of the original winter program model, which ran annually from December to February.
As such, BAX’s Education Department has decided to take a hiatus from running the YouthWorks program in 2023. Instead, we have set an intention on hearing from our YouthWorks community, to reflect on the core principles, hopes & dreams that drive the beloved YouthWorks program and collect your feedback. This community assessment process will take place alongside the core YouthWorks leadership team, including longtime YW director Donna Costello, Kelindah Schuster, and our Education staff so that we can plan for a vibrant return of YouthWorks in the 2023/24 season. With BAX’s 30 year history and exciting potential in mind, we are excited to look back as we look forward and step into a thriving new chapter of YouthWorks!
Three BAX students performing a piece they created on stage at YouthWorks February 2020
Hear what past YouthWorks participants, coaches, and parents have to say about the program!
“YouthWorks gives me a chance to be myself and to create something like nothing else.” -YouthWorks Participant
“I learned that I had a lot of stamina in creating things and an open mind.” – YouthWorks Participant
“It is a pleasure to learn about the ways these young individuals think about art making and the world, and create new realities through their performance interventions.” – YouthWorks Coach
“YouthWorks has given my son a community of artists who nurture and appreciate him.” -YouthWorks Parent