The mission of YOUNITY is to create an international collective of female visual artists, designers, photographers and craftswomen. These participants will support each other by joining forces on projects, helping to build networks, providing resources, and creating community awareness with the help of young people. It serves as a bridge that results in artistic mentoring, communal support, and the production of collaborative art shows that promote women in the arts. YOUNITY will hold a yearly showcase of diverse work by its members each November in New York City. A well-outlined 5-phase process will serve as a consistent guide, making sure that the project stays on track and unfolds in the same manner every year. The founders will put out open calls for submissions in order to democratically include as wide a variety of female perspectives as possible. To combat tradition, the shows will range from exhibits in galleries to rooftop video projections to fashion shows in parks to craft markets. The only constant factor will be a serious desire to flip the script. Too often, the visual art component at female-driven arts events serves as a backdrop for other forms - music, dance, etc. YOUNITY will make the visual the main focus by bringing together a collection of paintings, sculpture, crafts, photographs, clothing, film, design and anything else that gets thrown its way by talented women. When it comes time for the show, YOUNITY's founders hope to bring participating artists from all over the globe to one location in an effort to promote crosscultural exchange. It's one thing to read about an artists' life experiences in another country; it's quite another to meet them and discuss their work while standing in front of it. The connections made at the yearly shows will cement the fabric of the organization, bringing this group of female artists into each others' circles in order to share information. Most importantly, a group of inner-city youth will be involved in the process each year, learning from YOUNITY's founders about making art and getting it out into the world for all to see. They will be responsible for documenting the shows, starting with preparatory meetings and ending with their reflections on how the entire process turned out. To keep record of how the setup goes down, the kids will film, take photos and blog, also giving them exposure to these media. By putting kids in the inner circle from the get-go, the artists will spread positive vibes and consciousness to their lives. A sense of self-importance will be imparted through a productive, fun and appealing learning process. Our long term goals and objective is to improve young peoples self esteem, develop skills, and gain crucial insight working with professionals in the art world. In these ways, YOUNITY aims to be a jumping-off point for the creation of social change.
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