LOCAL YOUTH DOCUMENT TEEN CULTURE
"Through Our Eyes: Santa Monica Teens and Self- Expression"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:       December 11, 2006
Contact:  Erica Tang, Branch Manager, Young Adult Librarian, (310) 458-8799, Ext. 5664

The Santa Monica Teen Advisory Council will present a multimedia presentation and discussion on the importance of self-expression to Santa Monica teens. The presentation will be held on Saturday, January 13 at 3:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium at the Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd.

For the past three months, the Teen Council, made up of 15 Santa Monica High School students, has investigated ways in which teens express themselves through spoken word and urban art. The Council interviewed teens at a popular open mic program in Santa Monica called Downbeat 720 on the importance of spoken word as a means of self-expression. In addition, teen graffiti artists shared their thoughts on the different forms of urban art in the community.

By combining audio recordings, digital images, and old-fashioned interviewing, the Teen Council put together a compelling presentation on one of the most important elements of teenage life—self-expression. “We chose this topic because we really feel that this truly reflects Santa Monica teens,” said one of the youth participants. “We want people in Santa Monica to better understand why youth are involved in activities like spoken word and urban art and what it means to us.”

This project is part of the California Council for the Humanities recently inaugurated youth-focused program, “How I See It,” a statewide effort to enable young people to share—in their own words—what their lives are like, what they care about and what it’s like growing up in a diverse and changing state.

The program also aims to spark interest in the humanities and encourage youth to pursue their new skills and interests through higher education. Through the course of the three-month long project, participants have learned research and presentation skills, including how to interview someone, how to document their research with photography and video, how to incorporate research into a multimedia presentation, and how to organize and conduct a public program.

As a result of this project, one Teen Council member even became an active spoken word participant at Downbeat 720. “Before we started to work on this project, I was debating on whether I should share my poetry because I felt it was not meaningful, but Downbeat helped me see that I had something to say and people were willing to listen.”

All ages are invited to attend this presentation and panel discussion. For more information about the presentation, please contact Erica Tang, Young Adult Librarian, at (310) 458-8620.

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This page was last updated on 12/11/06.