Giving North Bay Area Students a Voice Through the Arts

Since 1970, Youth in Arts has been helping students find their voices through the arts and creativity. 

“We try to step in where schools or districts are having a challenge providing consistent, equitable access to arts education for whatever reason – whether it be geography, finances, staffing,” says Executive Director Kristen Jacobson. 

The mission of San Rafael-based Youth in Arts is to build visual and performing arts skills that foster confidence, compassion, and resilience in kids of all abilities. They also aim to provide arts education more equitably in the region, providing more to the schools that need it most. Since 1981, Youth in Arts has been the primary provider of arts education in special education classrooms in Marin.

Several decades ago, a change in California tax law – Prop 13 – led to decreased school funding. Arts education across the state took a hit, and the impact is still visible. Today, only 11% of California schools comply with the state requirement to provide students with access to the visual arts, music, dance, and theater, according to a recent report from SRI Education.

Youth in Arts is there to fill in that gap in the North and East Bay communities. 

To date, the organization has provided arts education for over one million students. They hire professional artists to teach in the classroom, and host gallery shows in their youth-focused gallery. Their award-winning `Til Dawn teen a capella ensemble gives students the opportunity to pursue advanced vocal music, and many have gone on to become professional musicians or teaching artists themselves. 

Youth in Arts’ teaching artists focus on the process of creating art, not just building technique or skill. They use the arts as a vehicle for youth mentorship and community building, providing programs that address social emotional learning, connectedness, and individual development.

Over the last two years, students worked with a visual artist to create a collaborative public mural promoting social justice that will be installed in October 2022. In another program, elementary students worked with an architect to design solutions to real-world problems in their communities, such as sea level rise and a lack of affordable housing. They even presented their ideas to the San Rafael City Council. 

“We want to see students understand that they have a voice,” Jacobson says, “and that they can use that voice to make change in their community through the arts.”