This program offered an opportunity for youth to engage in the full process of art, from inspiration and idea conception through execution and a final piece, all under the guidance of a teaching-artist. Through repeated exposure to the teaching-artist and the creative process, we challenged youth to engage and develop their creativity over multiple occasions, allowing them to learn and build creative muscles in long-lasting ways that are directly connected to their library experiences. We also aimed to engage youth without regular access to creative programs and opportunities, an area of need described by area schools and library users.

Youth participated in collaborative creativity under the guidance of a visual artist, and the sustained programming offers a model for blending drop-in and registered events across a theme to engage a variety of youth. We reconfigured our craft room for the project, creating a dedicated space for creative engagement. The creation of group paintings resulted in unique artworks that directly reflect our community--a large-scale and valuable aspect that has not been a part of past programming at the library. Working with schools and afterschool groups provides a framework for engaging youth who do not consistently have access to library programs.

Our desired outcomes were focused on youth’s level of creative engagement, comfort and willingness to engage in creative work, and ability to articulate creative process and vision. 90 percent of participating youth indicated an intention to be creative 4+ times per week, an increase of 37 percent from pre-participation surveys. Among the 17 drop-ins and workshops serving 205 youth, staff observed over 100 instances of peer teaching and building social connections, our indicator behaviors for comfort with creativity. We also collected over 250 artist statements from participants, which demonstrated a growing familiarity with creative terminology and expression throughout the project.