Intensive Art Mentorship: Venetia Valley
Calling all high school artists!
Make art. Be heard. Get Paid.
Youth in Arts’ Intensive Arts Mentorship program aims to amplify the power in young artists to make important change happen in their communities.
We want to hear from you — your ideas, feelings, thoughts, and questions! We are looking for 10 motivated high school artists ages that are looking to learn, create, and create artwork in San Rafael.
In our workshop, I AM (Intensive Arts Mentorship), young artists will work with Mentor Artists, Fred Alvarado and Keena Romano to create public art at a San Rafael City School. I AM: Venetia Valley Elementary School will bring together a group of young, emerging artists to create a public art piece in San Rafael centering the voices of local youth. What do you want to say? What do you want to create?
Each Emerging Artist will receive a $15/hr stipend for their selection and participation.
Apply by February 17th!
Apply for an intensive young artist mentorship!
(all dates are mandatory)
I AM: Venetia Valley Elementary
- Planning & Mentoring Sessions on Tuesdays, 3:30 – 7pm & Saturdays, 10am – 3pm: March 4, 11, 18, & 25; March 22; April 1
- Mural Painting & Installation Sessions at Venetia Valley Elementary on Tuesdays, 3:30 – 7pm & Saturdays, 10am – 3pm: April 8, 15, 22, & 29; May 6, 13, 20, & 27; May 17
- Community Paint Day, April 4 or 5 (TBD)
*Youth artists must be present at all dates for selected projects to be eligible for the program
Applications due by: Monday, February 17, 2025
Youth in Arts is passionate about and dedicated to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for young artists experiencing disabilities in our programs. Our building is ADA compliant, and we encourage interested students to reach out to Program Manager, Barbara Yupit Gomez at barbara@youthinarts.org to inquire after or request reasonable accommodation.
Meet the I AM 2025 Mentor Artists
Fred Alvardao
Fredericko Alvarado is a project based artist working through drawing, painting, public art, video, and curatorial practices. Their work revolves building with communities in the creations of site specific works. Alvarado engages sites through observation, research, and connection to local centers, organizations, and individuals who negotiate given spaces. This allows them the ability to experience, learn, and decipher differences and commonalities between the diverse personalities and cultures of this beautiful world.
Keena Azania Romano
Keena Azania Romano exercises her creative mind through the
exploration of diverse artistic mediums as a way to engage and
understand individual and collective purpose. Romano received her
BFA from Pomona College then returned to her native Bay Area to
pursue a career in the Arts. Her Murals can be spotted from
Sacramento, California, to Richmond, Virginia to Oaxaca, Mexico.
Inspired by cultural practices, Romano combines spirituality with
urban experience to produce work that draws upon the quest for a
greater understanding of intersectional beauty in this world. She fuses
traditional native arts with contemporary inner-city techniques to
reflect a new language that encourages the healing and
empowerment process between community members and their
environments. Her style is described as “vibrant and insightful”.
She aspires to travel and create a colorful trail of art by exploring the
modern Diaspora based on her multi-ethnic experience.