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At first glance, Southern Exposure art studio at the corner of Alabama and 20th streets is an understated and serene setting, the bright track lighting shining down on artwork from a variety of mediums in relative quiet. But the mood is entirely different on Thursday evenings when the \u201cYoung Queens on the Rise\u201d arrive; the studio comes alive with youthful squeals of excitement and curiosity.<\/p>\n
Each week Southern Exposure, or \u201cSoEx\u201d for short, collaborates with the Young Queens on the Rise, a subprogram of Mission Girls, developed to teach young women how to express their views through art. Under the tutelage of local artist Sofia Cordova, the fruits of their labor will soon be on display at Southern Exposure in an exhibition called \u201cThey Love Our Culture. They Hate Our People,\u201d which runs Dec. 9-17.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program is here to guide these girls by thinking of art and activism in ways that are less traditional,\u201d said Cordova, an interdisciplinary artist who moved from Puerto Rico to California in 2008. \u201cI want them to think about community action through the arts in ways that aren\u2019t what we are used to seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young Queens on the Rise is operated as a Community Arts Internship Program through SoEx. It serves as a vehicle for young artists to create art inspired by their personal experiences with issues like racism, state-sanctioned violence and violence against women.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Young Queens are part of an internship program where we actually pay our youth \u2026to be artists,\u201d said Maya Gomez, who runs SoEx\u2019s Artists in Education program. \u201cWe wanted to partner with Mission Girls because they are really cool.\u00a0 <\/span>The opportunity to collaborate with the Young Queens specifically on a project that is so visually and artistically driven, has allowed us to create space for them to think about their ideas and activism.\u201d<\/p>\n Lessons vary each week, but often begin with a closed-door writing exercise to focus the Young Queens\u2019 minds. From there, the girls branch out into smaller groups to work on colorful projects in assorted mediums and themes.<\/p>\n \u201cThis program aims to empower young Latina women with leadership skills,\u201d Cordova said. \u201cI want to expand their thinking about art and activism beyond the traditional forms, particularly in terms of accessibility. They can make documentaries with their phones, they can write, they can be weirder than the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n For the girls themselves, being a Young Queen on the Rise is a point of pride.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like this program because we do a lot of community work,\u201d said Jazmine Alcaraz, 16. \u201cBut it\u2019s not just what they want us to do\u2014we have our own voice here. They give us a lot of opportunities to speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n Finding a voice and sharing insights are common themes throughout the Young Queens.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we\u2019ve been doing is based on events happening around us,\u201d said Rocio Navarro, 15, who loves poetry but enjoys learning new ways to express herself. \u201cI\u2019m really excited for this exhibit because I want to make people aware of what is impacting us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve wanted to be an artist since preschool,\u201d said Alcaraz. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m really involved with social justice. If I can be an artist and activist at the same time, I\u2019d be really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [su_slider source=”media: 32385,32383,32382,32381,32380,32379,32378,32377″ limit=”80″ link=”image” target=”blank” width=”700″ height=”460″ autoplay=”0″ speed=”500″][\/su_slider] At first glance, Southern Exposure art studio at the corner of Alabama and 20th streets is an understated and serene setting, the bright track lighting shining down on artwork from a variety of mediums in relative quiet. But the mood is entirely different on Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":32385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[11731,11629,12009,12005,12007],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-32376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-mission-girls","tag-southern-exposure","tag-they-love-our-culture-they-hate-our-people","tag-young-queens","tag-young-queens-on-the-rise","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n