The Art & Environment Youth Ambassadors Program (YAP), a multidisciplinary teen initiative combining science and art, is a paid after-school program hosted at the Schuylkill Center. This program was launched in November 2023 as a collaborative effort between the Schuylkill Center's Environmental Art Department and Education Department. Students from Lankenau and Saul High Schools were invited to participate in this pilot year.
Running on Monday evenings from November 2023 to March 2024, YAP's primary goal was to educate teens about significant environmental issues through a blend of research, writing, experimental and collaborative discussion on environmental issues important to today's young people. The program also focused on youth leadership development skills, training and encouraging our next generation of environmental leaders and creating pipelines for students to learn about careers in the arts and environmental spheres. The program was co-instructed by Micah Lockman-Fine and Zoe Weinstein.
YAP also featured guest appearances from environmental artists and activists such as Talia Greene, Jordan Deal, and Jennifer Turnbull. Participants had the opportunity to contribute to curatorial projects under the guidance of the Center's Environmental Art department, both in our art gallery and in our forest.
This program was supported by a grant from the Alliance for Watershed Education via the William Penn Foundation.
Photo Credit: Bastiaan Slabbers