Creative Youth Collective Members Spotlight: Amar & Zoe

In celebration of our second Summertime Sparks dispatch focusing on The Hero’s Journey, we’re featuring two of our own heroes this week. As you know, the Creative Youth Collective is committed to fostering youth activism through the creative process. And we couldn’t be prouder to support two members of the Collective, Amar and Zoe, as they spend their summer fundraising for causes close to their hearts.

Creative Youth Collective members, Amar and Amruth, both age 12, at our Community Celebration in Palo Alto, CA. May 2024

This is Amar, age 12, sharing an excerpt from his forthcoming novel, The Heist! His story is an inspiring and epic adventure led by a 7th grade boy and his three best friends. Together they go on a mission to reclaim his family’s ancestral artifact. Not only is Amar a Creative Youth Collective scholarship awardee and an incredible writer, he’s also an avid literacy activist! This week, he launched The 2024 Bay Area Bookwork Summer Read-a-Thon as a fundraiser for Project Read Redwood City. You’re invited to participate in Amar’s Read-a-Thon and follow along on his Instagram account, @thebayareabookworm.

And this is Zoe, age 11. Zoe is a member of the Creative Youth Collective, and an outstanding writer with a huge vision for her work. This past spring, she was also awarded a Creative Youth Collective Scholarship, and within 4 short months, she drafted, edited, and published the first book in her series entitled, Farewell. In the future, Zoe dreams of turning Farewell into a TV series and eventually a movie. Her time in the Creative Youth Collective has meant so much to her that she launched a Kickstarter campaign this week to support her second year in our program. She’s determined to write the sequel, and I know she’ll achieve her goal.

Any support you can offer, whether that’s a donation of any amount, a share, like, or follow, would mean the world to Zoe. Everything helps! If you have any questions or want to know more about Farewell or the Creative Youth Collective scholarship, please ask. We’d love to hear from you.

Follow Zoe on Instagram to keep up with her campaign @itszoe.spice.

Thanks for celebrating a few of our heroes with us! Don’t forget to share our Summertime Sparks series with a tween or teen who could use a little help staying in their creative flow this summer. Our second dispatch is all about the Hero’s Journey, and we’ve got plenty of resources to get started. Share your sparks by Friday, July 26th at 11:59 pm PST for a chance to get featured in our next newsletter, and published in our next anthology!

Summertime Sparks Dispatch #2: The Hero’s Journey

Do you know what the opposite of anxiety is?

Hint: It isn’t calm.

It’s actually creativity! According to Harvard-trained sociologist and New York Times bestselling author Martha Beck, when we are deeply focused on creative problem-solving, it becomes impossible for our brain to be anxious. And I think it's safe to say that we could all use a little less anxiety in our lives. But how do we start living more creatively? Well, according to Dr. Beck, one sure way to spark creativity is to learn how to be curious.

Here at The CCC Project, we couldn’t agree more with Dr. Beck. In fact, the three C’s in our name stand for creativity, curiosity, and community, because we know that supporting tweens and teens as they develop these core values supports them in turn as they express their unique identities and begin to live their fullest, most engaged lives. 

Creative Youth Collective member, Zoe, age 11, sharing an excerpt from her novel, Farewell

And that’s why we’ve created our Summertime Sparks series. Our goal is to help alleviate some of the anxiety teens and tweens are feeling this summer by sending out an inspirational spark every other week. We want to keep teens and tweens engaged in their own creative practice, whether that’s poetry, prose, photography, or visual art.

So please share this series with a young person in your life who could use an extra spark; or if that’s you, please jump right in! Check out the spark below, create your piece, and share it with us for a chance to be featured in our next dispatch as well as our Summertime Sparks anthology!

Summertime Sparks

Dispatch #2

The Hero’s Journey

What do Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games have in common? They’re all great movies, of course, but they also follow the same plot structure: The Hero’s Journey. Joseph Campbell famously wrote about this narrative structure in his book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces.

No hero’s journey is the same. Luke Skywalker was initiated into his adventure by a hologram-toting robot named R2D2, when he was  suddenly asked to accept his role as a central figure of the Resistance. Harry Potter, on the other hand, may have been the Chosen One all along, but he didn’t fulfill his destiny until he was seventeen. Despite their differences, both heroes are united by their desire to overcome seemingly undefiable odds and transform themselves in the process of serving the greater good. 

This week, we’d like you to share your interpretation of the Hero’s Journey with us! 

Submissions are due by July 26th, at 11:59 PM PST

Need some inspiration to get you started? 

If you could use a little more direction to kickstart your creative process, we’ve got you covered. For a detailed overview of the Hero’s Journey, check out this special comic that our intern Eloisa made for you!

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And if you’d like some ideas about how you might explore the Hero’s Journey in different media… 

Don’t forget to share your work with us! Submissions are due by

July 26th, at 11:59 PM PST

Summertime Sparks Shoutout!

Thank you to Alicia for sharing her spark in response to our first dispatch, July’s Midsummer Mysteries.

“Shakespeare may compare one to a summer day
and yet nothing is quite like it:
the light’s gold and
the effervescence and
the peach sunrise and
the sweet-salty bite and
nothing is quite like it.”

— Alicia, age 15

Curious to learn more about Dr. Beck’s take on the relationship between creativity and anxiety? Check out this instagram post. Give us a follow while you’re there!

Summertime Sparks Dispatch #1: July’s Midsummer Mysteries

Summertime Sparks

Dispatch #1

July: Midsummer Mystery

July is a unique month because, for the majority of us up here in the northern hemisphere, we’re completely immersed in summer. Academic obligations are (temporarily) a thing of the past, so for this midsummer month, we’re creating a new ritual, a new routine.

How do July’s midsummer mysteries manifest for you?

• Is it a haze of hallucinogenic heatwaves?

• Is it the magic of staying up late to soak up the mystery of warm summer nights?

• Is it the rush of new adventures or the mind-numbing monotony of scheduleless days?

So grab your pens, laptops, paintbrushes, or cameras, and show us what July’s Midsummer Mysteries feel like to you. When you’re ready, submit your sparks here! Send your response to us by Thursday, July 4th, at 11:59 p.m. PST for the chance to be featured in our next Summertime Sparks dispatch.

Need some inspiration to get you started? 

Nightfall in July

Anna Calia

The photographs below are part of a series that Anna created in July 2021. It was a bit of a ritual, where every night in the month of July, she shot a photograph, no matter where she was, between the hours of 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. She made a book from the 31 images she shot.

A long exposure of the 280 after dark

An almost full moon

July

A prose poem by Eloisa Lin

I’ll say, I wish I knew you in July. The strawberry seeds in your teeth. Your wicked, wet hair in the Taipei rain. Monsoon, you’ll correct me. Monsoon, you’ll say, as if you know gleaming silver droplets better than my words and my name. Monsoon, you’ll smile and think of that roiling wave of tears and sweat that drowned you and saved you. I thought you hated rain. I thought you couldn’t swim. Just like me. We used to hide from the herculean thunder and silver rain and lighting under masses of squelching blankets and squealing dreams. Now you’ll stare into watery depths and you’ll look at me with a kindness you think is owed to me. I don’t want your kindness, I’ll wish I could say but the words will stick to my throat, burst from my tongue as foam like the silver rippling around your limbs, still waiting—homesick, fistfuls of fear spilling from my lips, dry. When did you learn, I’ll rasp out. You’ll assume swimming, and you’ll giggle into vermillion leaves, in spouts and heaves. I’ll watch the stranger in front of me until you’ll finally say: July.

Introducing Summertime Sparks

Hi all, I’m Eloisa!

I’m the summer intern for The CCC Project, and I’d like to share some exciting news with you. On Saturday, June 29th, we’re beginning our Summertime Sparks series. Here’s how it works.

Each Saturday morning, I’ll send out a creative prompt for you to engage with in your favorite medium—whether that’s writing, photography, visual art, or video. You’ll have until the following Thursday to work on your response, and when your piece feels ready, you can submit it to us. We’ll feature select submissions in our next newsletter, and publish them in our Summertime Sparks anthology at the end of the summer!

As a writer and artist myself, I know that finding inspiration can be challenging, and creative blocks are super common. If you find yourself feeling stuck, don’t worry. We’ll give you access to creative exercises and resources to get you moving again. With some prompts, we'll even provide excerpts of writing and imagery made by one of our very own members of the Creative Youth Collective.

Kathryn and I are so excited for next week’s kick-off of our Summertime Sparks series! We can’t wait to see how your unique creative voice shines each week. 

Please share this newsletter with friends and all creative t(w)eens who’d like to make the most of their creativity this summer. Encourage them to sign up for our newsletter if they haven’t already!

See you all next Saturday, 

Eloisa Lin

P.S. If you haven’t picked up a copy the Creative Youth Collective Anthology yet, grab one today! All sales directly support our scholarship program.

Creative Youth Collective featured author, Amar, age 12, reads from his novel, The Heist

It’s been an incredible year in the Creative Youth Collective, and at the end of this week, we’re getting together to celebrate!

Our book release party is Saturday, May 18th in Palo Alto, CA. The Creative Youth Collective will be live sharing excerpts from their newly published works with their family and friends. Here’s a sneak peek of one of our featured authors, Amar, age 12, reading from his forthcoming novel, The Heist.

In the Creative Youth Collective, we help curious, creative t(w)eens turn off the noise, tune into their ideas, and most importantly, share their stories. Are you looking for the best mentorship experience for your creative t(w)een this summer? We’re accepting summer applications now. Space is very limited and there are only a few spots left. Get in touch to learn more.

Exciting News: Creative Youth Collective Featured on the New York Times Bestselling Authors Event: BOOKED!

Join NY Times bestselling creators Brad and Kristi Montague for a LIVE author event on Tuesday, March 12th at 10 am Central Time. This special event is designed to help students nurture a love of reading and even inspire them to create their own books! Brad and Kristi were really impressed by the young authors in the Creative Youth Collective, and they asked us to film a brief introduction to the show. You can watch the event live or later with a link by registering for free at http://bookedevent.com 

The Creative Youth Collective at our Community Share, hosted by SFMoMA, March 9, 2024

Publishing Opportunities for Young Writers and Artists

I’m so impressed with youth-run literary magazines. These are global online publications directed by youth and focused on solely publishing the visual art and writing of young artists and authors.

If you are a young artist or writer looking to get your work in front of a larger audience, check out the links below, or forward this list to a young artist or author in your life. Several are open to submissions right now, and it’s 100% free.

Words with Weight publishes authors and artists between the ages of 13-25. They are accepting submissions for their spring issue right now. And they’re hosting a Global Teen Writers Convention on February 17th - RSVP by tomorrow! Fun fact - One of the current members of the Creative Youth Collective was just asked to be a regular poetry contributor to Words with Weight!

Diamond Gazette publishes poetry and prose, fiction and creative nonfiction, from writers of all backgrounds ages 10 through 26.

Sonderful Writing publishes young writers producing flash fiction, short stories, and poetry between the ages of 11-17

Fatal Flaw publishes poetry, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, photography, and visual art in themed issues

Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine publishes youth between the ages of 12-22 with an emphasis on mental health - any writing used as catharsis or reflection, or used to draw attention to societal issues, is particularly welcomed. They are also open to stories about the teenage experience, mental health articles, and more. Cathartic is open to any type of writing.

Empower Magazine publishes on Global Politics, Mental Health Awareness, Systemic Racism, Pop Culture and just about anything you wish to write or illustrate about, as long as it is constructive, unique and, of course - empowering.

The Alexandrian Review publishes young authors between the ages of 10-20 yrs old.

Creative Youth Collective + Wild Projects

One of the milestones I was most grateful for at the end of 2023 was the opportunity to offer four merit-based scholarship awards to some of the most wildly creative young artists and writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. And one of my professors from my MFA program at California College of the Arts, Kim Anno, was instrumental in making that happen.

In 2017, Anno founded Wild Projects, a 501(c)3 organization that serves as a collaborative hub for art, film, music, social practice, and environmental justice projects. The organization collaborates with communities all over the world to foster fearless art, film, and performance productions that inspire resilience in the face of adversity. As the fiscal sponsor of the Creative Youth Collective scholarship program, our partnership has made us eligible to receive tax-deductible donations from both private individuals and public companies. This has allowed us to dramatically expand our scholarship program from offering one award in 2023 to four awards in 2024.

It is hard to express how grateful I am for the generous donations we’ve received. Those funds directly support the four incredible young artists and writers that I welcomed to the Collective this week.

If you are interested in learning more about how to make a donation to the Creative Youth Collective scholarship program, or how to apply for a CYC scholarship yourself, please get in touch. Thank you for your shared commitment to youth empowerment and activism through the creative process.

The CCC Project @ Nueva Upper School in San Mateo

Hello and Happy New Year!

As the Creative Youth Collective gets ready to kick off the spring 2024 semester next week, we dropped into Nueva’s Upper School in San Mateo, CA to host an alternative photographic process and creative writing workshop on Tuesday, January 9th. Thanks to everyone who joined and a very special shout out to Anna, our 2023 Creative Youth Collective scholarship recipient, for her invaluable teaching assistance.

We had a blast learning about psychogeography and experimenting with the historic cyanotype process. Participants composed short stories and created conceptual blue prints using both found and brought materials. Check out some of our images below, and stay tuned - we’re working on a book featuring the photographs and texts produced during The CCC Project x Nueva collab this spring!

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Creative Youth Collective Scholarship Application Deadline is Today

Hey there, 

Today is the last day! The Creative Youth Collective Scholarship application closes at 7:59 pm tonight. We chose 7:59 pm because we want our procrastinator friends to get a good night's sleep. :) If you've been putting it off, please CLICK HERE to apply now. Thank you to all who've already submitted. We'll schedule interviews with the finalists in the next few weeks. Good luck! 

And while we're here, I thought I'd share a few reflections on some conversations I've been having the last few weeks about the deep connection between creativity and wellbeing.

When I asked members of the Creative Youth Collective what they liked best about working together, they talked about having a fun and safe place to express themselves and explore their ideas. They felt that our weekly sessions gave them an opportunity to:

• Take on the identities of different characters and personas

• Articulate ideas the way they wanted to

• Escape from the norm and build a world where anyone can be anything

In addition to the creative benefits, they also mentioned something else that I feel is super important. Our creative work has a positive effect on their emotional wellbeing as well. They felt that our time together also gave them an opportunity to:

• Channel feelings they had no other space to work out

• Express things that aren’t easy to say

• Release stress

I hear that 100%. Whenever we make something, a little bit of ourselves shows up in it somehow. And when someone listens to us and simply says, I hear that thing you’re struggling with, and I want to help, we can feel a little less alone. And that sense of connection can be invaluable to our creative wellbeing, and to our emotional wellbeing as well.

If you can relate, you belong here. So get that application in by 7:59 pm PST tonight. :)

With lots of love and inspiration,

Kathryn

Some great advice to young writers from young writers 💪

Hey,

I know you’ve been there. You’re sitting there in front of your screen, staring at a new Google doc, and every time that little tick blinks, it’s taunting you -

So what are you gonna write?
So, what are you gonna write? 
So what are you gonna write? 

Last month, the San Mateo Public Library featured members of the Creative Youth Collective and Whole Child Education at their first Young Authors Showcase, (it was AWESOME - thank you SMPL! ) and here, VKG, author of The Shadeway, shares a powerful personal tip on how to beat the blank page and just get started.  Click play and listen up - following this advice will at least double your creative output. 

VKG has good advice for a reason. Not only did they create their own solar system, they created their own language, too! I know - now you’re curious about The Shadeway, right? Read the full text in our ebook library, or purchase your own copy here.  Don't worry, there's a glossary in the back of the book. :)

Want to see your ideas come to life, too? Join us! There’s only one week left to apply for the Creative Youth Collective Scholarship. Don’t wait. I see you. I get you. Let’s make this dream happen together.

With so much love and inspiration,

Kathryn

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Creative Youth Collective Scholarship Application is OPEN!

Big News!

The Creative Youth Collective Scholarship application is open, and I'm inviting EVERY young creative writer and photographer to apply. It's a $6,000 merit based award open to all youth who’d like to see their creative ideas come to life in Spring 2024.

But before I go any further, let’s get clear about something very important - writers and photographers, listen up! :) 


Ideas come in all different shapes and sizes. There are big, fluffy ones that whisk our minds away to a cosmos of our own creation. There are little prickly ones that get stuck in our shoes and make us walk a little funny. Sometimes we even get super bouncy ideas that spring into our mind and leave just as fast as they came.

Whatever the shape or size of our ideas, we have to learn how to take care of them, almost like we take care of a pet. When we feed them good food and give them lots of love, they thrive.

But of course, this takes time. Sometimes, before we learn how to take care of our ideas, we default into our own anti-hero - our very own idea squasher! Idea squashers get judge-y and down on themselves about whether their ideas are good enough. They stop themselves before they even have a chance to begin. 

Trust me on this. Life as an idea squasher is no fun at all.

In the Creative Youth Collective, we begin with your idea-seed, whatever shape it's in, and we figure out ways to make it grow wild together. The Creative Youth Collective Scholarship is an opportunity for next-level exploration, experimentation, and play. Perfection isn’t a part of the creative process here - or anywhere else for that matter.  :) 

Okay, so now that you've squashed your inner idea squasher, you’re probably wondering, how do I apply? Well, it’s easy!

The application is three short questions, it's totally free, and we'll award 3 semi-finalists with partial scholarships valued at $1K, too! Applications must be submitted by 7:59 PM PST on November 15th, so don’t wait. If you've got questions, hit reply, or book a time on my calendar, and I'll give you a quick call.

Please share this AWESOME opportunity.  Forward it to friends, family, schools, homeschool groups, and of course, any young creative writers or photographers you can think of. 

And it’s worth repeating, because I really mean it. Your ideas are enough. Your voice matters. You belong here. So please apply, and encourage all creative 10 - 18 year olds in your life to apply, too. 

Thank you for sharing your ideas - it’s the ultimate act of generosity.

With so much love and inspiration,

Kathryn

Sneak Peek! San Mateo Public Library Youth Authors Showcase

We're ready for the weekend!

Meet us at the San Mateo Public Library

Our Featured Books

We're thrilled that the San Mateo Public Library is featuring books written by the Creative Youth Collective and Whole Child Education members this month. Visit the youth section of the main branch in downtown San Mateo to check out Charlie, Vincent, and Claren's books. If you can't wait to get to the library, we understand! Take a peek at the full ebooks now.

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Youth Author Showcase

This Saturday, October 14th from 11 - 11:45 am, Charlie, Vincent, and Claren (WCE) will share a brief excerpt from their books, and talk a bit about their ideas and inspirations at our Youth Author Showcase, generously hosted by SMPL. At the end, we'll have a raffle and every attendee will have a chance to win one of our featured books!

Thank you so much for joining us in celebrating this incredible opportunity for our young authors! We appreciate your support.


Share our event with your community. 

Buy a copy of our young authors' books through our Blurb store! 100% of our profits support causes that we care deeply about.
Check out the organizations we're supporting this year.

We're at the San Mateo County Library!

BIG NEWS!

Creative Youth Collective members featured at the San Mateo County Library

Exhibition, Youth Author Showcase, and Raffle

We are thrilled to announce that the San Mateo Public Library is featuring the work of two of our Creative Youth Collective members this month and next. Visit the youth section of the main branch in downtown San Mateo to check out Charlie and Vincent's hard and soft cover books.

And on Saturday, October 14th from 11 - 11:45 am, the SMCL's will host our very own Youth Author Showcase. Charlie, Vincent, and Claren (WCE) will each share a brief excerpt from their books, and talk a bit about their creative processes. At the end, we'll have a raffle and every attendee will have a chance to win one of our featured books!

We would love for you to join us in celebrating this incredible opportunity for our young authors. Here's how you can support -

Share our flyer with your community.

Join us on our Facebook Event page.

Buy your very own copy of our young authors' books through our Blurb store! 100% of our profits support causes that we care deeply about. Check out the organizations we're supporting this year.

CYC Scholarship Exhibition Finissage: Sunday, July 2nd

Namibia
Photographs and Stories by Anna Calia

Creative Youth Collective Scholarship
Exhibition Finissage

July 2, 2023
11 - 1 pm | The Village Hub | Woodside, CA

Please join us this Sunday, July 2nd, from 11 am - 1 pm at The Village Hub's Open House event! It's the last day to visit Anna's Namibia exhibition, and an opportunity to meet the artist herself. All work is available for purchase. 16 x 20 inch framed prints are $150 each, and include a 20% donation to The Village Hub.

Here's a sneak peak at two photographs in the show, along with commentary from the photographer. If you're unable to join us in person this Sunday, you can see the full exhibition and purchase prints through our website, as well! 

Dune 45

The dunes of Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park get their red color from the iron oxide content in the sand. The tone is intensified by the rising sun and by the contrast of light and shadow. The wind blows from all directions, shifting the sand into a characteristic pattern known as a "star dune."  This was not the easiest photograph to take – it required a pre-dawn hike through shifting sands to the windy top of the dune – but it was worth it to be able to capture the moment at which the natural light revealed this intense color.

Strolling for a Snack

The N/a’an Ku Se Reserve spans thousands of hectares outside of Windhoek, Namibia and provides protection to injured, orphaned, and conflict animals. The protections afforded this giraffe give him the freedom to pursue the simple, comforting pleasure of searching for a tasty treat, while bringing the viewer along with him. In addition to protecting wildlife, the foundation focuses on conserving the culture and land of Namibia. 

All We Do

Dear Friends,

The CCC Project is creating a library of expanded storytelling authored by youth. Working with text, photographs, moving images and sound to express the unique vision of each member of the Creative Youth Collective, we use storytelling as a form of youth-centered activism. In sharing our stories, we dream, imagine, and create new futures.

On Sunday, May 21st, the Creative Youth Collective and Whole Child Education communities gathered to celebrate the stories we’ve woven this year at The Village Hub in Woodside, Ca. Parents, family, and friends of the young artists and writers joined us in celebrating the release of five new books, two blogs, a film, and an exhibition of photographs. 

In addition to the hard and soft cover books, each member of the Creative Youth Collective designed a poster for their story with a QR code that linked to their ebook, film, or blog. All of the Creative Youth Collective stories are featured in the library on our website, where you can flip through the books, check out the blogs, and watch the film. We are so proud of our young artists and writers, and the ideas they've realized over the course of the last academic year! 

Creative Youth Collective Scholarship
Exhibition Open House

July 2, 2023
11 - 1 pm | The Village Hub
Woodside, CA

In 2022, The CCC Project established the Creative Youth Collective Scholarship: a full semester, merit-based award that celebrates young artists and writers who demonstrate exceptional talent and commitment to their creative visions. Our 2023 CYC Scholarship recipient Anna Calia's solo exhibition,Namibia, is on view at The Village Hub in Woodside, CA through July 2, 2023.

Photographs by Anna Calia, 16x20 archival C-Prints

During the summer of 2022, Anna was part of a photography and conservation student travel program in Namibia. She spent a month camping in the bush, photographing, and learning about the incredible wildlife. This exhibition celebrates her commitment to her work as a photographer, as well as her deep respect for animals, nature, and the environment.

I’ve had the honor of mentoring Anna and helping her cultivate her passion for photography and writing since she was ten years old. It’s been an absolute pleasure to watch her continuously grow as an artist throughout the last seven years. In autumn, Anna will be heading to Washington DC to study photojournalism at Corcoran School of Art and Design at George Washington University where she will continue to follow her passion for photography and environmental conservation.

Please join us at The Hub's exhibition Open House on July 2nd from 11 am - 1 pm to see Anna's exhibition in person, and meet the artist herself! All work is available for purchase. 16 x 20 inch framed prints are $150 each. If you're unable to join us in person, and you can see the full exhibition featured on our website, as well.

Creative Youth Collective 2023-24 Registration

The CCC Project believes that creativity, curiosity, and community form the cornerstones of an engaged life. We are a highly personalized, radically collaborative arts and humanities education platform for creative youth. With a foundation in mentorship and interdisciplinary arts education, we provide the framework to help young artists and writers discover and dive deeper into their interests, develop the skills needed to realize long term idea-driven projects, and most importantly, share their creative work with the communities that matter to them most.

We have very limited space left for the upcoming academic year. If you think this program might be the perfect fit for a creative young person in your life, please click here to schedule a free personal consultation. 

Warmly,
Kathryn

All We Do
A poem by Ben Okri

Gazing at the shape of a hill, 
The grey horizon, 
A woman reading a book,
A landscape shaped by history.
All we do is story.

Our public acts are dreams.
Our private acts are dramas.
Submerged rivers are our thoughts,
Misted streams our hopes.

Like the spider we turn
All things into ourselves.
We bend the light
Of time into fables.

Beyond our mind, reality moves.
Unknowable like the darkness
Before creation.

We carve from the unknown
A world.

Without story
Our identities
Starve.

We live in and out
Of time
Simultaneously.

Living belongs to story.
Being belongs to mystery.
Beyond form
Our souls
Breathe.

We yield time
Our story-making sense.
In this portion of eternity,
Awake and in dreams,
We live myths.
It's what makes us immense.

Spring 2023 News and Events

Dear Friends,

It's been an action packed semester here at The CCC Project! As we wrap up this school year and plan for the next, I'm so excited to share what we've been up to as well as what's ahead.  

 

Creative Work Share and Artist Talk with
Trina Michelle Robinson

On Saturday, April 1, 2023, members of The Creative Youth Collective and Whole Child Education got together for the very first time in Woodside, CA to meet each other, learn about each other's current creative projects, and listen to our featured artist Trina Michelle Robinson speak about her interdisciplinary art practice. Trina explores the relationship between memory and migration through film, print media, archival materials and text. Her work has been shown at galleries and film festivals throughout the country including including the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia, the San Francisco Art Commission Main Gallery, Minnesota Street Project, New York’s Wassaic Project and is included in the Museum of the African Diaspora’s (MoAD) Emerging Artist Program 2022-2023. She told the story of exploring her ancestry with The Moth Mainstage on stages throughout the country including New York’s Lincoln Center and NPR’s Moth Radio Hour. 

Creative Work Share and Artist Talk, April 2023, Woodside, CA
Members of the Creative Youth Collective and Whole Child Education check out some of the materials Trina brought back from Senegal and Cameroon. 

Creative Youth Collective

Exhibition & Celebration

At the beginning of the Fall semester, we launched the Creative Youth Collective (CYC), an innovative, student-centered program, specially designed to inspire youth to cultivate their passions, realize their ideas, and share their creative work with the communities they care about most. I cannot wait to share the wildly imaginative projects each member of the collective is currently bringing to life. And next month, I'm happy to say, we'll have the opportunity to do just that!

On Sunday, May 21, 2023 from 2-4 pm, the Creative Youth Collective and Whole Child Education will celebrate the work we’ve created this year with an exhibition in Guild Hall at The Village Hub in Woodside. We’re inviting parents, family, and friends of the young artists and writers to join us in celebrating our creativity, curiosity, and community.

At this event, we will also honor our very first Creative Youth Collective Scholarship recipient, Anna Calia. Anna is an accomplished visual artist and photojournalist, who is on her way to college to continue studying fine art in the Fall. I started working with Anna when she was 10 years old; it's been an incredible privilege to mentor her as her creative interests have developed and deepened over the past 7 years. 

We'd love to have you join us! Please click here if you'd like to be added to our guest list.

Summer and Fall Registration 2023-2024

Registration is now open to new creative youth who would like to join the Creative Youth Collective for summer programming as well as the 23-24 school year! Space is limited, so if you think this program might be the perfect fit for a creative young person in your life, click here to schedule a personal consultation. Registration forms and deposits are due on June 1st.
 

If you know someone who would appreciate the work we do, I would be grateful if you forwarded this link to them -- we love making new friends. As always, thank you so much for your interest in The CCC Project, and for your support of creative youth!

List of Recommended Specialists

Maya and I would like to thank all of our past and current clients for the incredible references you sent us for our List of Recommended Specialists. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know each of the professionals we've included on the list, and we hope that you will have an opportunity to get to know them, too. We will be regularly updating it as we receive more recommendations.