Thrive
City, Water Warrior Alliance introduce ‘Vision & Voice’ program
The first art workshop will take place at the Alliance’s headquarters Friday.
The City of St. Petersburg, in collaboration with Water Warrior Alliance, launched the “Artivism: Vision & Voice” program at the end of last month.
The environmental arts and community leadership initiative teaches middle school students about nature through creativity, exploration and service. It will run for 10 weeks.
The first art workshop will take place at the Alliance’s headquarters Friday.
A group of nearly 30 St. Petersburg-based students have already attended multiple adventure days. Activities have included snorkeling, fishing and a trip in the Tampa Bay. The young people will also participate in environmental cleanups.
“Through all of my youth programs, I’ve always wanted to expose youth to becoming environmental stewards and to take action,” said Water Warrior Alliance founder and president Jenna Byrne. “I want to expose the kids to this awesome, beautiful place that we live in, but also at the same time I want to teach them to pay attention to the details of the different layers of pollution or just different ways of thinking.”
Students will recycle recovered materials to create works of art. Byrne explained that the attendees can use different types of plastics to create jewelry and mosaic pieces, among other projects.
At the culmination of the program, the young people will participate in a public community showcase and present their artwork. Byrne said that they will create a digital portfolio utilizing the Canva graphic design platform. Additionally, the students will get to sell their pieces.
“Ultimately, the kids are going out and getting exposed to adventure and eco-opportunities within our community and then they are tasked with sitting down and brainstorming and creating some art to tell their stories.”
Last year, the Water Warrior Alliance and the City collaborated on the “Art in Action” program. Byrne wanted to expand the concept.
“As a school system partner, we consider how we can support and contribute to the vision of student success with limited resources,” said City of St. Petersburg director of education and youth opportunities Sheron Brown. “No one organization can accomplish shared goals all on their own. We share the sentiment of Pinellas County Schools’ mission to prepare each student for college, career and life.”
“We considered the fact that there are youth who thrive outside of the traditional academic subject areas,” she continued. “We wanted to create an opportunity that allowed young creatives to explore career pathways in areas that bring them joy, because joy at work contributes to one’s overall well-being and ultimately community well-being.”
One of the key goals of the initiative is to educate participants about a wide variety of career fields. These include marine science, environmental restoration, stormwater management, sustainability, environmental education, public art, nonprofit leadership, communications, ecotourism and community engagement.
“I hope students take away a deeper understanding of what their talents are,” Brown said. “We are all born with genius within. That’s a personal belief that I hold. There is something, if not a few things, that we are all born great at. But unless we are presented with opportunities to explore, we may never find out what those gifts or talents are.”
She believes that by meeting new people, participants can continue to develop their interpersonal intelligence. Brown added that “we know that engaging in creative activities allows for introspection.”
“Ultimately the showcasing of their final product will contribute to them taking away an increased sense of pride and accomplishment, which should trickle over into school life and life in general,” she explained. “The fact that they’ll be outside, they might also say ‘hey, I can have fun outside and I don’t always have to have my phone in my hands.’”
The City has invested $50,000 in the “Artivism: Vision & Voice” program.
