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ArtEscuela Summer Internship 2003! Tienes VOZ. Be moved to ACTION! Get more information.

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Building on Esperanza's 1988 children's mural project and the 1995-97 Visiones de Esperanza Youth Media Project, Esperanza launched a new program in September 1999, Artescuela: A Youth Community Cultural Arts School.

Weekly classes for youth ages 12-22 teach multiple media and ways of expressing and exploring — including storytelling, photography, poetry, drawing, videomaking, writing, music, performance, painting, drumming, oral history, papel picado, digital imaging, and more. Through all of the projects we are exploring creativity, difference and diversity, cultural pride, community, respect for individuals and for self.

It is our hope that the young people of Artescuela find a home where they can express and discover their true voice, connect to their communities and explore the possibilities of the future.

	“Artescuela is a place to speak my mind. You can do what you want — there isn’t a teacher telling you you can’t do this or that. The teachers listen to what I have to say…”
	“I like it because I have a lot of friends there. If we have problems you guys help us out. You don’t have to have perfect spelling.”

See some of the projects and artwork of Artescuela! Fall 1999 Photo gallery