Meet the First 2020 Adobe Project Grantees
Creativity is a powerful tool that can be used for self expression, sharing our stories, activism, and exploring new possibilities. Creative youth organizations are vital in providing access to space, tools, and resources to the next generation of creatives to support them in the development and growth of their creative skills. Furthermore, these organizations are creating pathways for equitable access to creative education, careers, and industry.
In 2020, TakingITGlobal is excited to continue our partnership with Adobe in supporting creative youth organizations through the Adobe Creativity Grants. The $10,000 Adobe Project Grant supports creative youth organizations in implementing a project, collaboration or expanding on a current program to deepen creative opportunities for young people in their community. We are pleased to introduce the first recipients of the 2020 Adobe Project Grants:
Espaço Cultural A Era do Rádio is using an Adobe Project Grant to launch their TechnoYouth Lead — Girls Occupy project in Brazil. This project is providing young females, from the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, with media and technical training to develop employable skills. These young females do not have access to such training and resources due to financial and social-economical barriers. In addition to employable skills, TechnoYouth Lead — Girls Occupy project will also be fostering critical thinking, collaboration, and ideation skills. These females will be learning the importance of social activism and how they can use media to create change in their local community.
Free Spirit Media’s Industry Pathways Cohort Training Program provides 21st century technical and creative professional and workforce development skills and opportunities for emerging creators in the United States. The Adobe Project Grant will expand the opportunity of the Industry Pathways Cohort Training Program to provide more young people with technical training, panels, workshops, and hands-on apprenticeship experiences. The participants will finish the program with the preparation and confidence to launch their careers in the media industry.
GlobalGirl Media’s Greece Chapter is evolving and expanding their six-month long program, Another Athens.This program will engage young female creatives, refugees, migrants, and female Greek citizens, from the Athens community to collaborate together to learn skills to produce a series of videos. By the end of the program, the participants will have created videos to share their personal stories and showcase what inspires them about their local community. These videos will be for GlobalGirl Media’s YouTube Channel’s positive magazine-style weekly series.
Heaps Decent’s 3C Above project has been developed in response to climate change and climate disaster in Australia. The participating young creatives will develop an interactive virtual reality experience, which will synthesize material from various mediums such as photography, videography, digital art, special effects, and music production. This project will provide the young creatives with the resources and space to express their voice on climate change, call for action from their local community, and express their hopes for the future of our shared environment.
Mile End Community Project will launch a new creative leadership program FAME (Film and Media Empowerment) in the United Kingdom. The program’s goal is to build bridges between different groups of young creatives to foster cooperation and promote community cohesion. FAME will train young creatives on how they can use their mobile devices to create media content. The young creatives will receive training on mobile videography, photography, creative writing, storytelling, and spoken word. These media pieces will be showcased and celebrated at their local independent cinema, Genesis.
Shilpa Sayura Foundation’s Creative Leaders Program has a goal to provide young creatives, from four schools and two universities in Sri Lanka, with training on digital photography, graphic design, animation and video production. The program will build career pathways to creative fields by connecting participants with industry professionals for internship opportunities. By the end of the program, the young creatives will have created a series of media pieces that will showcase local issues that are important to them and their community. These pieces will be showcased in a series of exhibitions in their schools, universities, online, and various local exhibitions.
Youth Art Exchange (USA) is collaborating with LYRIC Center and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to offer a free after-school printmaking course for San Francisco high school students. From February to May, students will be creating original artwork for a public-facing poster series on the theme of toxic masculinity and gender. Engaging with a multidisciplinary faculty of exemplary artists, youth will develop technical arts and digital media skills and apply them through youth-led project-based learning and leadership activities rooted in community, creatively contributing their culture and viewpoint.
Yunuén de la Mora Academia de Teatro Musical (Mexico) is collaborating with APYRE and the Mayan youth from Yucatán for a musical production on the importance of inclusion. This musical production will be performed by able and disabled young creatives. The musical will have songs both in Spanish and Yucatán Mayan. To prepare and produce this musical, the young creatives will take part in various workshops such as intensive playwriting workshops, videography lessons, editing, etc. The final production will be performed both in Mexico City and in Cantamayec, Yucatán.
The next two deadlines for the Adobe Project Grant application are March 15th and May 15th, 2020. Stay tuned as we continue to share the projects being created by new grantees and the journeys of their young creatives!
