2026 Creative Careers for Youth Arts Intensive Series | Spring Session Recap

At ArtsXchange, we use every opportunity we get to encourage kids to think outside the box. Our 2026 Creative Careers for Youth Arts Intensives Series is a prime example of what it means to connect, create, and expand what it means to prepare children for the future.

In case you missed our last blog post about it, Creative Careers for Youth is ArtsXchange’s initiative designed to give young people, ages 11-18, the professional tools, creative freedom, mentorship, and literary skills they need as the next generation of innovators. Over the course of five days, the kids engaged with various hands-on activities that spoke to developing a sense of self through literary and visual art practices.

Sneakerheadz Creative Design w/ Zerric Clinton

During artist Zerric Clinton’s Sneakerheadz classes, students engaged with wearable art in the form of sneakers. They had the option to either paint directly on a pair of sneakers or they could create 2-D designs for shoes on canvas or paper. Many students took the route of using multiple materials in their designs and found new ways of creating that spoke to them. In addition to the footwear design portion of the lesson, students learned about important artistic fundamentals like color theory and elements of design.

STUDENT REVIEWS

• “I like what we did today because we watched (an) awareness video now I am fully aware. And I love sketching and meeting Mr. Zerric and I enjoyed him teaching us.” - N.

• “I learned how to draw a shoe. I liked (that) we got to color today.” - E.

• “I liked all of it. I really liked designing sneakers.” - I.

INKSPIRE: Creative Communications w/ Theresa Davis

Out of the many teaching methods our Literary Director Theresa Davis has developed in her career, one in particular that always stands out to students is utilizing the game scrabble. The students were instructed to create and connect words using letter tiles and from those words, develop their own short story. Their imaginations ran and we got everything from family vacations to ninja bananas. We were even graced with an original song by one of our young minds! 

Of course, new students always bring new challenges to face. During this spring break session, we worked with quite a few home schoolers and one of the biggest opportunities for growth for the students was getting to experience a classroom environment like this and have more independence in their daily activities. Instructor Theresa Davis made sure to leave space for parents and students to feel comfortable every step of the way. By stressing the importance of creative freedom and using your words, students were introduced to new ways of thinking and it showed in how they responded to each other as time went on. 

STUDENT REVIEWS

• “I learned how to play scrabble and (use) complementary colors. It was interesting.” - N.

• “I learned that you can make masks out of casts.” - B.

• “Today I learned that without most social and visual awareness videos and campaigns, most accidents that happened, because people didn’t have awareness, wouldn’t get recognition.” - M.

• “I learned how to make masks. And how to create things even with recycled tools and etc.” - N.

“So INKSPIRE was a challenging week but a very enjoyable week. I felt like for a lot of the youngsters, this may have been their first experience away from their parents through the day and having to adjust to new people and getting to know new people, having conversations, creating art. I think they were all very engaged and really enjoyed what we did as far as mask masking, play making, generating our own stories. It was overall a success. I can’t wait to do it again.”

- Literary Director Theresa Davis

Looking to register your child(ren) for our camp? Below are the upcoming camps for our 2026 CCFY Arts Intensive Series Summer Session. For more information, check out our Creative Careers for Youth Program page.

The Southeast Community Cultural Center d/b/a ArtsXchange is pleased to offer partial and full scholarships for our youth programs and summer camps. Click the button below to view our CCFY Scholarship Application.

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Message from the Founder:

“I know from my own experience, and from most of the artists that I know, that when children are introduced to the arts early, it has a profound impact on the way they see themselves, the way they organize their life, and the way that they make sense of the world. So even if you don’t become an artist, it informs everything you do in your life. We want children to grow into their full, whole selves. And that means expressing your artistic side as well your intellectual side. Welcome to the arts.”

- Executive Director Alice Lovelace