Ortiz 1

Isabella Ortiz
Mrs. Fogelson
Junior English DE
5 April 2016
Project Proposal
Art as a form of media has always been tremendously impacting in both cultural and
historical settings. No matter its form, art has made its mark everywhere, whether it be in small
communities or widespread cities all around the world. In todays day and age art continues to
take different shapes but its function remains virtually the same; to express emotions, to
entertain, and to inform. In addition to this, art has many health benefits such as decreasing
negative emotions in people, reducing stress and anxiety and spurring creative thinking (Alban).
Personally, art has always had a major impact in my life. Whether it be singing or acting, the fine
arts have always been very important to me. However I have noticed that in Surprise, there aren't
many outlets of art for teens to explore and to make their own. This makes the community seem
impersonal and not inclusive. Because art also serves as a unifying connection within
communities introducing more art within the Surprise would unify and impassion the
community.
For this project, my partner, Megan Ruff, Valeria Ortiz and I have created a solution for
this underlying issue plaguing Surprise. This solution takes it shape in creating a non-profit art
based youth center. As a way to promote unity in the community of Surprise, our youth art
community center will sponsor local teen artists who want to further their craft in addition to
introducing them to other art forms and cultural art expressions. It has been seen that the
capacity of people to act together on matters of common interest made a greater difference in the

Ortiz 2
health and well-being of individuals and neighborhoods (Project and Spaces). Art is one way a
community can unite and this center would serve to accomplish this fact. Generally speaking the
center would host festivals and classes, host workshops for at risk youth, and promote cultural
pride. It would serve to be a way for the sense of activism to be instilled into the youth. In this
way they can use their art to make a change and let their voice be heard. For the purposes of this
project we will be focusing on three aspects of the centers development.
We will first be organizing a weekend cultural festival where teens from Surprise may
submit their own work for an exhibition. In addition to this we will be encouraging teens to
express their own emotions and their own opinions through art. The weekend cultural festival
will have several distinct exhibitions of different forms of art. They will highlight different
themes such as activism and culture. Art workshops will also take place in addition to
demonstrations and speakers. Along with the actual festival, other members of the group will
have to focus on the Outreach aspect of the program as well as the Promotional aspect. With any
project of this scale, there will always be roadblocks. For example, it will be difficult to gather
artists to engage in the festival as well as funding the entire endeavour. As a way to solve these
many problems, we will ask for assistance from community leaders. Specifically, we will speak
to Connie Whitlock, executive director of the WHAM art center, in order to get some advice on
how to go about getting the project off the ground. As a group, we will also be able to tackle each
problem headfirst and solve them before they become problematic.

References
Alban, Deane. Blog. Uncategorized. Be Brain Fit, 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

Ortiz 3
Project, and Public Spaces. 5 Ways Arts Projects Can Improve Struggling Communities Project for Public Spaces. Articles. Project for Public Spaces, Nov. 2007. Web. 26 Feb.
2016.