Youth Space 2021: Free Youth-Led Arts Program for Athens Community

Youth Space 2021 is a University of Georgia event. This program takes place at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia and is led by a student of the Lamar Dodd School of Art. Youth Space 2021 is made possible with the generous support of the 2020 Paul C. and Margaret Beasley Broun Student Support Fund at the University of Georgia.

Beginning 13 March 2021, Ph.D. candidate in Art Education Lisa Novak will host the Lamar Dodd School of Art’s inaugural and free youth-led arts and social practice program.

Youth Space 2021 is open to 14 to 20 year olds from the Athens area. Youths are invited to collaborate on an experimental, socially engaged, and site-specific art and design project, publication, and exhibition or event that will investigate subject matters relevant to young people today.

Exploring various material and conceptual approaches to art and social practice, artistic production, curation, writing, and printed matter, participants will lead and plan sessions, field trips and spatial interventions, facilitate public engagement, and turn the host space into an experiential and living public studio through the course of the program.

Commencing on 13 March 2021, participants will meet every Saturday from 10:00 AM at the Lamar Dodd School of Art, with an intensive session planned to take place during Clarke County Spring Break between 5 – 9 of April 2021. The exact meeting times will be decided by the group, and depending on the trajectory of the project some events and programming may extend further into April 2021, and beyond.

Hosted by Lisa Novak’s School of Collaboration and Invention and facilitated with support by MFA candidate Forrest Lawson, Youth Space 2021 will take place throughout classrooms and gallery spaces at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, and in various places chosen by, and relevant to, the program’s participants.

Interested? For more information about the program and on how to apply, visit here.

Please note: Preference will be given to youth who are residents of Athens Clarke County and who are not currently enrolled in post-secondary education. All applicants under 18 years of age will need to provide consent from parents or legal guardians.

COVID-19 Guidelines: All participants are required to wear face masks during in-person sessions. To protect everyone involved, Youth Space 2021 will follow all necessary health and safety guidelines as outlined by the Center for Disease Control and the University of Georgia.

Lisa Novak is Ph.D. candidate in Art Education and an Austrian designer and educator based in Athens, Georgia. Her practice and research focuses on self-organized art education, youth engagement in art and social practice, participatory pedagogies, and creative dissent. She has led workshops, youth arts intensives, and numerous experiments in public pedagogies with institutions including the Contemporary Art Gallery Vancouver, the Vancouver School Board, UNIT PITT Projects, the School for Eventual Vacancy, the City of Vancouver, Temporary Investments, the University of Georgia, and communities across Canada and the United States. Currently in her second year as a doctoral student in art education at the University of Georgia, she is the recipient of the 2020 W Robert Nix Award of Excellence in Art Education.