Fourth Monday Susan Speaks

Portraits of two youths abuilding

By Susan C. Price

The two paintings I'm speaking through today are from the Mirror, Mirror Project in Los Angeles, where artists meet and make portraits of young persons who are participating in a program called YouthBuild, in which they finish high school and learn the construction trade.
    Or, as the Mirror, Mirror website puts it:

The Mirror, Mirror Project pairs professional artists with youth to create portraits of each other allowing both subject and artists to inspire, empower, and see one another on a human level.
    [Mission statement:] The [project’s] goal is to erase the stereotypes of people that exist in our world and create a space to share our stories, thoughts, voices, and visions through art.
[The Program:] The [project] is a traveling art program that drops into different non-profit organizations around the world. During each partnership, professional artists from the community work with each organization to inspire the youth through creating art.
    For a time period of about 3-4 months, the youth and the professional artists work face-to-face creating each others portraits in an artistic style of their choice. In a predetermined gallery in the community, each partnership will hang their portraits they created of each other side by side in a culminating exhibition. Once the exhibition is installed, the community is invited to explore the portraits created by each partnership and discover the power of the unique relationships that were created by art and conversation.

"Charles the Second"

"Glaiza"

Copyright © 2015 by Susan C. Price