Youth Celebrate Art & Culture

I wrote my first personal essay in barely legible print on the yellow and green pages of my Scooby Doo journal. Oh, the tragedy of unrequited love was unbearable, and I escaped to my lamp lit desk night after night to flesh out the emotions tearing endlessly at my heart. Little has changed over the last 15 years. Even still, decaf coffee with too much artificial creamer turns cold as I cry onto an open laptop night after night and write through the chaotic decision of what I will do for the rest of my life.

I wish I knew the answer. That I could tell you I plan on being a successful essayist in ten years. A writing instructor at a University, or maybe an editor. I don't know though. I just don't know who I am or who I want to be yet. The only thing I'm sure of is this: I have to write.

Hundreds of Flagstaff students feel this way. Desperate to create. But in a shrunken economy where passionate and talented artists are turning to secondary jobs to barely make end's meet, it's hard to pursue a dream - maybe of being a writer someday, a musician, a painter or sculptor, a dancer or actor, the director of a nonprofit, the owner of a gallery. Many children are losing their dreams. And I, for one, am not okay with that.

Neither are the arts teachers for Flagstaff Unified School District. Right now, every school and hundreds of Flagstaff students are displaying art at the Coconino Center for the Arts in our annual Youth Art Exhibition. Numerous local arts instructors are inspiring their students to chase the dream, no matter the cost. To do what they love, even if it means making sacrifices. To challenge themselves creatively, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and to never give up.

My own creative writing instructors at Northern Arizona University are the reason I haven't given up on my dream yet, let my passion turn into a hobby. They inspire me. They encourage me. They teach me. They want me to succeed.

This Friday, March 29, from 4-7pm, the Coconino Center for the Arts is hosting a free reception for the young artists of Flagstaff. The opening reception at the beginning of the month was cancelled due to poor weather, but you can come Friday and see the incredible artistic talent being fostered in our schools. There will be youth performances throughout the evening in the theater, popcorn and lemonade, and hundreds of artists making their first breaks.