Generation Dream Showcase, 2019

Generation Dream was a youth performance showcase at Richmond Peace Education Center, bringing together young artists from across Central Virginia to share original poetry, music, dance, and performance. The showcase was created as a space for young people to share their experiences and perspectives while imagining what a more inclusive community could look like.

The showcase was one part of my work as Youth Program Director and Lead Conflict Resolution Facilitator at Richmond Peace Education Center. I directed, curated, and organized the 2019 showcase, developing the concept, inviting and selecting participating artists, working with young people as they developed their pieces, curating the program, and coordinating the production and logistics of the event.

The program featured original work inspired by the performers' own experiences, exploring subjects including racism and anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, gun violence, LGBTQ+ identity, cultural heritage, and belonging. It also included a performance by the Jackson Ward Youth Peace Team, a youth group I worked with through the center, and resident teaching artist Brandon Lovee, whose work I coordinated as part of the center's youth arts programming.

Bringing these different young artists, educators, and creative practices together was central to the project. Generation Dream was both a performance and a way of making space for young people to be seen, heard, and taken seriously as artists and as people shaping the communities they live in.