Adapting Culminating Events for Right Now: insights From and for Creative Youth Development Programs

ADAPTING CULMINATING EVENTS FOR RIGHT NOW INSIGHTS FROM AND FOR CREATIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS ON MEETING THE NEEDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Denise Montgomery, 2021

RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN BY DENISE MONTGOMERY OF CULTURETHRIVE SUGGESTED CITATION: MONTGOMERY, D. (2021). ADAPTING CULMINATING EVENTS FOR RIGHT NOW: INSIGHTS FROM AND FOR CREATIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS ON MEETING THE NEEDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. CULTURETHRIVE.

www.culturethrive.com

Denise Montgomery, 2021

Young people consistently rank culminating events -performances, exhibitions, youth summits, screenings of their films -- as a powerful motivator and key aspect of their involvement in creative youth development programs. Â 1

Promotion for Destiny Arts Center Virtual Event, Oakland, California

This research explored how CYD programs are adapting culminating events to the current, largely virtual environments and to identify challenges and new approaches.

1. Montgomery, D., Rogovin, P. & Persaud, N. (2013.) Something to say: Success principles for afterschool arts programs from urban youth and other experts. New York, NY: The Wallace Foundation.

Promotion for This is Now! Art Projection Series, Artists for Humanity, East Boston, Massachusetts

Dedication For every young person who lost someone or something this year, this is for you. For every young person who kept going in whatever ways you could - creating, feeling, being - this is for you.

For every teaching artist and sta person and funder and volunteer whose resolve to be here for young people compelled you to persist through unprecedented challenges, this is for you.

Lastly, for everyone who took the time out of their full, intense lives to share insights and questions and realities in the hope that it might help others and support young people, this is for you.

Acknowledgements Thank you to everyone who made this research and report possible. It is an act of generosity to carve out the time to respond to a survey or to participate in an interview. Thank you.

Special thanks to Matt D’Arrigo, Katie Lorge, and Anne Vincent of The Clare Rose Foundation and Center for Creative Youth Development; Erik Holmgren and Kathe Swaback of the Massachusetts Cultural Council; Ann Gregg, Arielle Brown, and Dalouge Smith of The Lewis Prize; and Ashley Hare, Dawn Heinen, and Heather Ikemire of the Creative Youth Development National Partnership.

Thank you all.

METHODOLOGY & RESPONDENTS This qualitative research included an online survey in combination with in-depth interviews, participation in group discussions among CYD practitioners, and one-on-one conversations with CYD stakeholders.

125 respondents from every region of the United States completed the survey. An additional response from New Zealand brought the total to 126 responses. The organizations who participated in the survey represent a range of arts disciplines, sta sizes, budgets, and stages in their evolution as organizations.

InsideOut Literary Arts of Detroit, Michigan moved its Louder Than a Bomb Youth Poetry Festival Online during the pandemic.

“Be available to them. Be willing to adapt and change on a moment's notice . . . Listen to them. This is hard for all of us but it's particularly confusing for kids. Losing structure is not easy.

Losing connection with mentors is not easy, so figure out ways to maintain that.�

- SURVEY RESPONDENT

FINDINGS

92% of respondents said that culminating events were extremely important or very important to their organizations.

54% of respondents said that culminating events were extremely important to their CYD programs and to youth involved in their programs prior to the pandemic.

38% of respondents said that culminating events were very important to their CYD programs and to youth involved in their programs prior to the pandemic.

A Step Beyond, Escondido, California

WIDESPREAD EVENT CANCELLATIONS OCCURRED HOWEVER 28% OF CYD PROGRAMS ADAPTED THEIR CULMINATING EVENTS AND HELD THEM AS SCHEDULED IN SPRING/SUMMER 2020

Postponed 19% Cancelled 53%

As Scheduled 28%

CANCELLATIONS WERE A REALITY MANY ORGANIZATIONS PRIORITIZED ADAPTING PROGRAMMING

“Our graduations are still happening virtually, however our larger events such as our gala have been cancelled.”

“We have cancelled live productions in our space, but continue with workshops/readings and education culminations via Zoom.”

“Postponed indefinitely. But will most likely not reschedule them until next year.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Promotion for Tuition-Free Virtual Programming with Supply Kits Provided to Participants, Art 180, Richmond, Virginia

VIRTUAL EVENTS BECAME THE NEW NORMAL 97% OF CYD EVENTS IN SPRING/SUMMER 2020 WERE VIRTUAL OR PARTIALLY VIRTUAL

Hybrid 10% In-Person 3%

Virtual 87%

WITH DETERMINATION AND RESOURCEFULNESS, CYD ORGANIZATIONS FOUND WAYS TO HOLD CULMINATING EVENTS PRACTITIONERS SHARED THAT THE CHALLENGE OF ADAPTING EVENTS STRETCHED THEIR SKILLS AND CREATIVITY

“We maintained the event schedule, however, we conducted them [culminating events] online. The execution required a greater amount of time, creativity and coordination. It allowed all team members to stretch and it allowed us to reach people all over the world.” - survey respondent Organizations reimagined and redesigned events. Examples of event adaptations include: > Creating a documentary film in lieu of a live performance > Shifting to an online platform and breaking what had been mega events into multiple, shorter events featuring fewer young people per event > Mounting drive-by exhibitions of young people’s work > Socially-distanced teen summits that connected youth from across organizations and geographies >A nighttime, outdoor art projection series of featuring young people’s visual art

“…we were, frankly, flying by the seat of our pants, and overall proud of what we accomplished.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENT

TOP 3 CHALLENGES IN ADAPTING EVENTS MAINTAINING YOUTH ENGAGEMENT #1 CHALLENGE

1. Engagement, Motivation Among Young People Virtual Fatigue Loss of human connection, energy of live, in-person events

2. Technology & Connectivity Digital equity gap

3. Staff Capacity, Aptitudes, Stress Need to learn new technologies, new ways to engage with young people Heightened logistics require additional planning and resources Stress from demands of life and work during pandemic

ON YOUTH ENGAGEMENT CHALLENGES AND VIRTUAL FATIGUE

“ I imagine this will shift with time, but our youth were more or less deflated by the idea of virtual culminating events and there was a lot of disappointment and disengagement”

“Creating the energy and feedback that a live audience gives.”

“For youth arts performances, it has been recognizing all of the challenges that youth are currently experiencing related to health concerns, financial concerns, school stress, and more, and then making sure the virtual arts activities or events that we are hosting are appropriate in consideration of all of those factors.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

ON CHALLENGES RELATED TO STAFF CAPACITY AND APTITUDES

“ Time...it takes more time to prepare and execute” “Administrative Staff Capacity for logistics and communication” “Attempting to virtually train seasoned teaching artists who are not tech savvy to learn/teach virtually”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

ON TECHNOLOGY-RELATED CHALLENGES

“Technology - what to use and how to do it well! Our staff are not experts, and it is intimidating.”

“Making sure our youth participants have the technology they need and the skills to utilize the technology.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

TOP 10 CHALLENGES IN ADAPTING EVENTS 1. Engagement, Motivation Among Young People Combine with Virtual Fatigue Loss of human connection, energy of live event Loss of impact/reduced impact by pre-recording 2. Technology & Connectivity 3. Staff Capacity, Aptitudes, Stress Need to learn new technologies, new ways to engage with young people Heightened logistics require additional planning and resources Stress from demands of life and work during pandemic 4. Engaging Families in Virtual Performances & Connecting with Audiences Families have virtual fatigue, too; and may be skeptical about event quality/experience, can be hard to get families to attend; unsure how to make events interactive 6. Effect on process, including challenges in building relationships, rehearsing as an ensemble, not being able to be in person, including to provide food Isolation affecting process 5. Funding Funding for new approaches to events; event production expenses; includes cost of food 7. Safety, including transportation to create/perform together 8. Communications with Students & Families 9. Venue closures, facilities closures 10. Revenue Loss

ON CHALLENGES RELATED TO PROGRAM PROCESSES

“Building meaningful relationships between teaching artists and students remotely” “Online work has a limited timeframe for keeping students focused and engaged”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

KEY FINDING: FROM CHALLENGES SPRUNG OPPORTUNITIES

Broader community attendance Expanded youth leadership Youth employment opportunities

58% OF ORGS SAID COMMUNITY MEMBERS WERE MORE AVAILABLE TO ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE Alumni Creative Professionals Elected Officials Civic Leaders Funders Friends

YOUTH WERE MORE INVOLVED IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING EVENTS AT 40% OF RESPONDING ORGS

21% OF ORGS SHARED THAT YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES GREW RELATED TO ADAPTING EVENTS

TRENDS

SHIFT TO PRIORITIZING ENGAGEMENT FOR MANY ORGANIZATIONS, MAINTAINING CONNECTION WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY GIVEN THE INCREASED SOCIAL ISOLATION DURING THE PANDEMIC, ECLIPSED SHOWCASING ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR BROADER AUDIENCES

David’s Harp Foundation in San Diego, California took steps to maintain young people’s engagement with DHF and to reestablish engagement with school.

“By June of 2020, we were online with all of our youth (Including those experiencing incarceration) and used the Zoom platform to create spaces for young people in lieu of events.

Music listening parties, beat making breakout rooms and “the living room”, a Zoom hangout space, are among the events that we adapted to maintain connection with youth.

We also held movie nights on Zoom for young people.”

BRANDON STEPPE, DAVID’S HARP FOUNDATION, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

ONE-ON-ONE MANY PROGRAMS INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF ONE-ON-ONE ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE AS A STRATEGY FOR YOUTH ENGAGEMENT AND AS A PROGRAMMING ADAPTATION TO PROVIDE NEEDED SUPPORT

“We have adapted using a variety of online tools.

Much more one-to-one teaching with no in-person meetings happening during spring/summer.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENT

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT, VIRTUALLY Virtual events supported real-time feedback and encouragement from audiences, including in chat boxes and via conversations.

“Students received a lot of encouragement, gratitude and thoughtful questions from the attendees about their creative process.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENT

Promotion for VOX ATL of Atlanta, Georgia, Out on Film Festival, including live, virtual Q & A

PRIORITIZING MENTAL HEALTH CYD PROGRAMS SUPPORTED THE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF YOUTH PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS AND OF STAFF. PROGRAMS SOUGHT TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE AND NURTURING SPACE, SOCIAL CONNECTION AND BELONGING, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION. ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDED COUNSELING WHERE SOCIAL WORKERS AND MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS WERE ON STAFF AND ALSO MADE REFERRALS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.

Teaching artists and staff share community and provide support to one another via Zoom. A Step Beyond, Escondido, California.

MEETING BASIC NEEDS: FOOD CYD STAFF, YOUTH, AND VOLUNTEERS PROVIDED FOOD TO PARTICIPANTS IN RESPONSE TO NEED. ONE CYD LEADER CREATED A WEEKLY DRIVE-THROUGH FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM FOR TEENS EXPERIENCING FOOD INSECURITY. Preparing food distribution for youth program participants and their families, A Step Beyond, Escondido, California

MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDED LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS GENEROUSLY GAVE ADVICE AND MODELED AMPLIFYING YOUTH VOICE ON VIRTUAL PLATFORMS

David’s Harp Foundation released “6 Feet” on March 24, 2020

NEW, CITYWIDE EVENTS

1Hood Media and City Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania collaborated on a drive in cinema style event with live performances from multiple Pittsburgh-based arts organizations while adhering to COVID-19 public health protocols.

AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY MOST ORGANIZATIONS WERE STILL ADAPTING THEIR CORE PROGRAMMING AND EVENTS AND NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC WITH ITS ASSOCIATED CHALLENGES. SEVERAL ORGANIZATIONS HAD INITIATED OR PARTICIPATED IN ALL-NEW COLLABORATIONS, AND MANY ORGANIZATIONS EXPRESSED ENTHUSIASM FOR EXPLORING PARTNERSHIPS THAT LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY AND A SPIRIT OF EXPERIMENTATION.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF CITYWIDE EVENTS DURING PANDEMIC COLLABORATING ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS CAN PROVIDE NEW EXPERIENCES FOR YOUTH AND ATTENDEES

BENEFITS: SPARKING CREATIVITY BY WORKING ACROSS ART FORMS AND ORGANIZATIONS FOSTERING UNITY IN COMMUNITIES MEETING NEW PEOPLE REACHING NEW AUDIENCES OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO CREATE SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW

EXAMPLES OF CITYWIDE EVENTS DURING THE PANDEMIC “We just hosted a city-wide Teen Arts Leadership Summit led by a Teen Committee that featured a teen keynote speaker, live youth performances, a DJ session, and three teen-led interactive workshops, all on Zoom.”

“Most recently is the Craft Lake City DIY Festival where we will be virtually launching a video game produced by students in our PowerUp game design class. Students will also be managing a virtual booth within Mozilla Hubs.”

“Beginning to work on a community (city) wide Black History month music/arts festival. Beginning to discuss collaboration with a variety of our community partners and school district. Not sure if this will be partially in person, partially live streamed/ pre-recorded.”

“We are doing a podcast of arts in the area Including interviewing all the directors and cast members from local high schools that were canceled and their feelings about the experience in allowing them to share some of their talents.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Promotion for Arts Amplifying Youth Summit planned and held during the pandemic in National City, California.

CREATING OUTDOORS CYD PROGRAMS HELD BOTH PROGRAMMING AND EVENTS OUTDOORS, OBSERVING COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH PROTOCOLS WITH MASKS AND PHYSICAL DISTANCING. YOUTH COLLABORATED ON MURALS AND DANCE VIDEOS THAT WERE FILMED OUTDOORS, SOMETIMES WITH SOLO PERFORMANCES EDITED INTO A UNIFIED PIECE.

transcenDANCE filming Home within a Home in National City, California

SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF FREEDOM CONSTELLATIONS, THE INTERACTIVE MURAL ALSO PICTURED ON THE PRECEDING PAGE. THE PROJECT WAS A COLLABORATION OF PERFORMING STATISTICS AND RISE4YOUTH, ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADVOCATE FOR THE END OF YOUTH INCARCERATION, AND CODEVA.

ORGANIZATIONS EMPLOYED A RANGE OF PLATFORMS AND APPS FOR PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

CYD YOUTH PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS INSPIRED AND HELPED OTHERS YOUTH EXERCISED THEIR AGENCY AND EMPLOYED THEIR CREATIVITY IN PROVIDING INSPIRATION, HELPING OTHERS MEET PRACTICAL NEEDS, AND ADDRESSING CRITICAL ISSUES SUCH AS EQUITY AND RACIAL JUSTICE

A young artist celebrates completion of an outdoor mural with a message of encouragement made during the COVID-19 pandemic, ArtReach, San Diego, California

“Our organization (1Hood Media) has taken advantage of our expansive social media reach and network to host virtually all of our programming online to much success.

We’ve created four separate talk shows/live podcasts around politics, social issues and public health that have actually reached the attention of the Governor of PA early in the pandemic to change the way Black and Brown communities were serviced in dealing with COVID-19.” -1Hood Media, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

RYSE Center in Richmond, California Created a COVID-19 Resource Section on its Website with an extensive set of links to resources ranging from food to childcare to distance learning to tenant protections and much more.

MAKING VIRTUAL EVENTS INTERACTIVE REAL-TIME INTERACTIVITY BY YOUTH IS PART OF SECRET SAUCE, AUDIENCES’ PRIMARY ROLE IS ENCOURAGEMENT

Youth create together online in real time

“We actually reimagined all of our online time to be 100% interactive as we found that young people would not participate if it was not interactive. One example of this is our Beat making breakouts where young people could interact in Zoom socially or move freely to break rooms where our Artist Mentors were producing music live with input from youth. The music was then transferred to youth via a phone app called “Bandlab” where they added their own vocals to the instrumentals.”

“Emphasis on process. Our programs are creation-based . . . interaction and process is crucial.”

Audiences ask questions and providing feedback

“Students in most cases had opportunity to share work, and receive direct feedback, praise, and advice from mentors, peers, and audience members. In larger events we employed Zoom panel features and offered Q&A opportunities to the audience.”

“YouTube Premiere allowed us to release the films in a way that people watched them in real time and could comment together.”

- QUOTES ARE FROM SURVEY RESPONDENTS

MAKING VIRTUAL EVENTS INTERACTIVE AS AN AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY, AUDIENCES ARE SOMETIMES INVITED TO JOIN IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Some interactivity is prompted or structured, such as via polls or invitations to comment in chat features “Yes, [the event was interactive] through chat, breakout rooms, polls, and other prompts by the on-camera host (s)”

Audience participatory components, such as joining in singing, typically occur live during events “At the end everyone is invited to dance.”

“In one instance, a student playwright edited their play to include Zoom as the place for the script, and built into the play an alternate ending where an audience poll affected the ending of the performance.”

“We also hosted an open mic poetry slam where the audience joined in and performed.”

“We had a live chat going on YouTube, and asked people to send in photos of themselves watching and wearing their ensemble merch.”

One organization invited audience members to submit dance videos in advance to be included in the pre-produced event video “Yes! We asked people to join us sending us a dance video and received many responses, some international! It was all weaved together called ‘Around the World’.

- QUOTES ARE FROM SURVEY RESPONDENTS

STRATEGIES, IDEAS, & IMPLICATIONS HOW ORGANIZATIONS CAN ADAPT CULMINATING EVENTS IN WAYS THAT HONOR YOUNG PEOPLE’S WORK AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

OVERVIEW - 11 STRATEGIES FOR ADAPTING CULMINATING EVENTS FOR RIGHT NOW GUIDING PRINCIPLES

1. Youth Led, More than Ever 2. Prioritize Connection YOUTH ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES

EVENT STRUCTURE & SOME CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS

3. Give Young People the Opportunity to be Part of Creating Something Completely New 4. Provide One-on-One Support 5. Leverage the Increased Availability of Community Members to Attend 6. Work Across Geographies 7. Make it Interactive 8. Make it Celebratory, Make it Special

9. Hold Shorter Events with Smaller Groups of Young People 10. Get Help with Technology 11. Allow More Time for Planning

www.culturethrive.com

Denise Montgomery, 2021

#1 YOUTH LED. MORE THAN EVER. “Lean into the practice, nothing for them without them.”

“Engaging the young people in the planning stage and in the development of the solution helps to build their confidence and increases their level of participation.”

“A) Turn over as much of the process as possible to the participants and/but B) provide robust strategic support, including setting up skills, outlining possible processes and troubleshooting, being available for in-process live support and C) include in-process check-ins to celebrate the ongoing work, praise those who are moving forward, encourage those who are getting behind schedule” “Be OK with trial and error.”

“Ask and respond to your community of young people.”

“Be off the charts nimble…Let the young people tell you what they want to do and work with you to make it happen. Be ready to completely change your plans two or three times and be okay with putting ideas in the trash” - SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Ask youth what they want in programming and events.

Continue to ask periodically as everything is shifting.

We know that you know this. We are listing it first because it is the most important.

#2 PRIORITIZE CONNECTION EVENTS MAY TAKE NEW FORMS TO FACILITATE CONNECTION; PROGRAMMING MAY TAKE PRIORITY OVER PUBLIC-FACING EVENTS

“We have learned that providing youth space to connect deeper with their artistic passion in a social online setting (opposite of what their distance learning school model is) was more important than a reimagined event for them in this season. These informal listening parties simultaneously honored young people’s work and provided additional opportunities to connect during these challenging times.”

“…recognize and honor that the world is different right now and that if the work is a little different as a result or if not all youth are able to step up, that is ok. They may be dealing with a lot, and the art can reflect that and provide a release/way of processing what they are dealing with.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Virtual Rehearsal, transcenDANCE. National City, California.

#3 GIVE YOUNG PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE PART OF SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW Films, recordings are enduring and give organizations and have the potential to reach large audiences “Creating a video or documentary style project allows the young people to have something to take away. It also allows them to share their work with people all over the world via email, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube. It’s also a great tool for them to look back on and recognize how they contributed to creating something amazing during a challenging time in the world.”

“Recorded presentations best document the work efforts of our young participants, staff, and board members.”

“Our library site-specific performance residency was turned into 6 short dance videos filmed as solos in alumni neighborhoods. Our annual CREATE performance will not be a 45 minute dance theatre film created by an award winning documentary filmmaker.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Seek relationships with creative industries, such as the film industry, to assist with production and presentation of videos and other documentation of youth work.

For example, Detroit Youth Choir collaborated with Imagination Detroit.

Also, organizations should seek and allocate funds for video documentation or other forms of documentation of youth creative work.

HIGH-QUALITY FILMS OR RECORDINGS OF PERFORMANCES OR EXHIBITIONS ARE ENDURING, A SOURCE OF PRIDE, AND ENABLE YOUTH TO SHARE THEIR WORK ACROSS PLATFORMS

Still from video Detroit Youth Choir - Glory - We Are One - featuring IndigoYaj (artistic director Anthony White)

MIGHTY SONGS FOR THE MOMENT “IN APRIL, WORLD CAFE LIVE LAUNCHED “MIGHTY SONGS FOR THE MOMENT” WITH MIGHTY WRITERS, AN ACCLAIMED PHILLY NONPROFIT. DURING THIS RESIDENCY, OUR TEACHING ARTIST WORKED WITH YOUNG POETS, TURNING THEIR POETRY INTO SONGS. DURING A DIGITAL RELEASE PARTY, STUDENTS SPOKE ABOUT THEIR CREATIVE PROCESS AND PERFORMED POETRY/ SONGS LIVE. THIS WAS OUR FIRST VIRTUAL EDUCATION EVENT; 40+ MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY LOGGED IN TO LISTEN AND CELEBRATE YOUNG VOICES. WE PLAN TO REPLICATE THIS SUCCESSFUL MODEL OF A VIRTUAL RESIDENCY CULMINATING IN A DIGITAL EVENT.” - WORLD CAFE LIVE SURVEY RESPONSE

To gain student buy-in, invite youth to be involved in something they’ve never done before. Create opportunities to be involved in something that will endure, for example a recording or performance of young people’s original compositions or a high quality film or video documenting youth performance.

Youth/teaching artists collaborative album release announcement, World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA

#4 PROVIDE ONE-ON-ONE SUPPORT AT A TIME WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE LOST SO MUCH, ONE-ON-ONE ATTENTION CAN BE SOMETHING THEY GAIN

“Be sure that students are interacting virtually with teachers/directors/conductors regularly one-on-one. This will allow the teacher/director/conductor to stay informed and understand the struggles that each young artist is facing.”

“Providing 1:1 with youth in preparing for the culminating event”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Young Artists in Harmony in San Diego, California is an example of a CYD program that has provided more one-on-one time with teaching artists and students during the pandemic as part of programming and preparation for culminating events.

#5: LEVERAGE THE INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS & OTHERS TO ATTEND VIRTUAL PLATFORMS OPEN POSSIBILITIES FOR ARTISTS, ALUMNI, ELECTED OFFICIALS AND OTHERS TO HONOR & CELEBRATE YOUTH CREATIVITY

Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit’s 2020 Perform-A-Thon, held virtually, included current and past Mosaic Mosaic artists.

#6: WORK ACROSS GEOGRAPHIES EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING THAT LINK PARTICIPANTS AND ATTENDEES WHO ARE IN DIFFERENT LOCALES AND WHO ARE FROM DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS CAN BE EXCITING AND ENGAGING AND CAN KEEP THINGS FRESH.

Young America Speaks Up, a collaboration of YR Media of Oakland, California and WNYC’s Radio Rookies of New York, New York, with content created by young people throughout the United States.

#7: MAKE IT INTERACTIVE REAL-TIME INTERACTIVITY AMONG YOUTH IS PART OF SECRET SAUCE, AUDIENCES’ PRIMARY ROLE IS ENCOURAGEMENT. THAT BEING SAID, AUDIENCES ARE SOMETIMES INVITED TO JOIN IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS AS AN AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY.

The 2020 National Young Artists Summit, “The Artistic Youth Revolution”, hosted by the Creative Youth Development National Partnership, included interactive opportunities for young artists to connect, create, and celebrate

#8: MAKE IT CELEBRATORY, MAKE IT SPECIAL “We sent our senior gifts to our graduates and had them do an unboxing during a Zoom event and share their personalized awards with everyone. This was in conjunction with screening their work and having Teaching Artists give short speeches. The unboxing was probably the highlight of the event.”

“We delivered pizza to every single family and every unit that was part of it…it was celebratory…the sent responses of their families and their pizzas and t-shirts and what they were doing during the performance” - SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Express Yourself of Beverly, Massachusetts moved its culminating event online in Spring 2020. The organization provided pizza and t-shirts to students and families to enjoy during their livestreamed culminating event.

#9 HOLD SHORTER EVENTS WITH SMALLER GROUPS OF YOUNG PEOPLE Multiple, smaller virtual events featuring fewer young people can give individual young people their own time to shine by sharing their work or performing.

Smaller-scale events can foster a sense of connection with audiences in a digital space.

Build in live / real time audience response during event – the feedback tends to be specific and is experienced as authentic and meaningful to youth. “[We] also have organized smaller, more intimate Zoom events in which soloists perform and we share good news and challenges from the org.” “…online and small — focused for larger impact” - SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Successful virtual events are shorter in duration than typical live events.

30 minutes – 1 hour for audience portion.

Youth and program sta may want to have their own, non-public space for celebration and sharing following the public event

#10 GET HELP WITH TECHNOLOGY If you don’t already have needed expertise on staff

LEARN FROM PEERS. PARTNER WITH CREATIVE INDUSTRY. LEARN FROM YOUTH. GET NEW VOLUNTEERS. CONTRACT WITH PEOPLE WITH EXPERTISE.

#11 ALLOW MORE TIME FOR PLANNING “Allow 4 times the amount of planning time!”

“…allow time for research and planning on what it will take to implement.”

“…include them [youth] early in the process and planning, and rehearse rehearse rehearse.”

- SURVEY RESPONDENTS

“KEEP GOING. IT’S NOT IDEAL, IT’S NOT PERFECT, BUT EVERYONE IS IN THE SAME BOAT, AND THE EFFORT AND CARING YOU SHOW THE KIDS AND FAMILIES MEANS MORE THAN EVER. -SURVEY RESPONDENT

ADAPTING CULMINATING EVENTS FOR RIGHT NOW INSIGHTS FROM AND FOR CREATIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS ON MEETING THE NEEDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

92% of respondents said that culminating events

FROM CHALLENGES SPRUNG OPPORTUNITIES

were extremely important or very important to their organizations.

Broader community attendance Expanded youth leadership

53% OF RESPONDING ORGANIZATIONS CANCELLED CULMINATING EVENTS IN SPRING/SUMMER 2020

Postponed 19% Cancelled 53%

As Scheduled 28%

Youth employment opportunities WITH DETERMINATION, CREATIVITY, AND RESOURCEFULNESS, SOME CYD ORGANIZATIONS FOUND WAYS TO HOLD CULMINATING EVENTS

11 STRATEGIES GUIDING PRINCIPLES 1.

2.

FOR ADAPTING CYD EVENTS FOR RIGHT NOW

Youth Led, More than Ever Prioritize Connection

CHALLENGES

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES 3.

#1 Engagement, Motivation Among Young People Virtual Fatigue; Loss of human connection, energy of live, in-person events

#2 Technology & Connectivity Digital equity gap

#3 Staff Capacity, Aptitudes, Stress The need to learn new technologies, new ways to engage with young people Heightened logistics require additional planning and resources Stress from demands of life and work during pandemic

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Give Young People the Opportunity to be Part of Creating Something Completely New Provide One-on-One Support Leverage the Increased Availability of Community Members to Attend Work Across Geographies Make it Interactive Make it Celebratory, Make it Special

EVENT STRUCTURE & SOME CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS 9.

10.

11.

Hold Shorter Events with Smaller Groups of Young People Get Help with Technology Allow More Time for Planning

Denise Montgomery, 2021

8 IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNDERS

OVERVIEW - IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNDERS 1.

Increase funding to CYD programs for technology and for technology training.

2.

Simplify grant application and reporting processes as a measure of trust and support for program and administrative staff who are stretched to the breaking point.

3.

Increase multi-year, general operating support.

4.

Invest in youth apprenticeships and employment opportunities at CYD programs.

5.

Fund self-care and professional development for teaching artists and for program and administrative staff.

6.

Support, with compensation and technology, forums for 1) peer learning about technology for programming and events and 2) peer learning on adapting programming and events.

7.

Celebrate the resilience and ingenuity of CYD programs and youth participants by helping to raise awareness of CYD programs.

8.

Attend CYD programs’ culminating events, including virtual events, as being there makes a positive difference to youth.

www.culturethrive.com

Promotion for Virtual Photography Exhibition Event, AjA Project, San Diego, California

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

TALK WITH MORE YOUTH transcenDANCE of Lemon Grove, California

DO ADDITIONAL IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

Cincinnati Youth Choir Virtual Choir, Cincinnati, Ohio

CONSIDER A SECOND WAVE RESEARCH. THIS COULD INCLUDE INVESTIGATING HOW TEACHING ARTISTS AND YOUTH CAN BUILD ALL-NEW RELATIONSHIPS ONLINE, AND HOW YOUNG PEOPLE CAN ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER ONLINE Promotion for screening of Watch This: Live event held on Twitch, Spy Hop, Salt Lake City, Utah

RESOURCES

ON ENGAGING YOUTH VIRTUALLY Denver Afterschool Alliance's PIRL Tool (Preparation, Interaction, Reflection and Logistics) for online programs, adapted from Weikart Program Quality Assessment With more youth-serving programs using online platforms to provide remote instruction, the Denver Afterschool Alliance (DAA) is providing technical support to help the out-of-school time (OST) provider community assess and improve the quality of this delivery model. As part of our support, DAA is proud to offer the free-to-use Preparation, Interaction, Reflection and Logistics (PIRL) tool, which assesses various dimensions of quality for online learning and youth development sessions. Although this tool was minimally field tested, it borrows heavily from the well-researched Program Quality Assessment (PQA) from the David P. Weikart Center, and DAA has added a suite of items that specifically addresses quality factors unique to the online learning experience.

ON ENGAGING YOUTH VIRTUALLY, CONT. VOX ATL’s “Vibing in Virtual Youth Programming” Channel on YouTube

• Vibing & Thriving - Designing an Effective Youth Arts Program • Vibing in the Virtual Space - Youth Arts Programming Goes Digital • Vibing in the Virtual Space with High Expectations & High Tech Tools

ON ENGAGING YOUTH VIRTUALLY, P.3 PEAR Resources on Quality in Virtual Programming, Youth Social and Emotional Well-being, and more

ON YOUTH PROGRAMMING AND ISSUES AFFECTING YOUNG PEOPLE YouthToday Afterschool Alliance

ON ADAPTING TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO VIRTUAL SPACES

Youth Development Executives of King County Tip Sheet: Facilitating Virtual Trainings

ON DIGITAL EQUITY Guidelines and tools for promoting digital equity Findings from research on digital equity conducted during the the COVID-10 pandemic by Stephen J. Aguilar, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California

ON COVID-19 & RACE PolicyLink’s weekly commentary and media analysis project focuses on the focus on the racial implications of the COVID-19 crisis

Spy Hop of Salt Lake City, Utah, conveys its unwavering commitment to young people.

LEARNING FROM OTHERS CONTINUES TO BE IMPORTANT AS WE ADAPT & REINVENT

THANK YOU YOUR QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK ARE WELCOMED. PLEASE CONTACT DENISE MONTGOMERY AT DMONTGOMERY@CULTURETHRIVE.COM OR 858-373-7066.

www.culturethrive.com

Denise Montgomery, 2021