Youth & Education

MICA works with emerging and established artists to create arts learning opportunities for K-12 and college-aged youth. The focus is on west side youth of color and youth of immigrant and refugee background, who often lack consistent access to arts education opportunities. These programs use multiple media to aid youth in developing their creative and artistic voices, and charting paths to higher education.

Hartland Arts Residency

MICA works with University Neighborhood Partners to run the Hartland Arts Residency. Housed at the UNP Hartland Partnership Center, in the Glendale neighborhood of Salt Lake City, the residency brings in local artists to work with K-12 youth to create original artwork. Past residencies have focused on ceramics, painting, and public muralism.

The photos below feature a muralism class led by Miguel Galaz, in which youth painted the pillars at the center, and a sculpture class led by Horacio Rodriguez (photos by the artists and partners).

Justice-Memory-Activism

In the summer of 2019, MICA partnered with the Center for Documentary Expression and Art, Mestizo Arts and Activism, and Sugar Space Foundation to run a community-based artist residency called Justice-Memory-Activism. The residency brought together two nationally-recognized artists from Salt Lake's west side, Ruby Chacón and Lily Havey, with ten high school- and college-aged artists.

Facilitated by Chacón and Havey, the participating youth took the lead in identifying issues they cared about and creating a collaborative, portable mural addressing those issues. The youth then helped plan a public event at Sugar Space, at which they unveiled the mural to a gathering of 50 and engaged those attendees in dialogue. The youth have begun making plans to tour the mural to spaces across the west side. (Photos by Kent Miles)

Header image: Ceramics Class led by Horacio Rodriguez at the UNP Hartland Partnership Center.