Siler City teens participate in project to call attention to gangs, youth issues

March 2007

By Milburn Gibbs, story originally published in the Chatham News/Chatham Record (photos added to website)

Some Siler City "of promise" youth are doing projects designed to voice their concerns about drugs, violence, racism and boredom and turn them into better places - by their own bootstraps.

Their goal is to change their neighborhoods and foster their own potential as productive citizens.

The Siler City 4-H club and Teen Coalition for Family Peace have been active in the community since last summer. 4-H leader and Chatham County Together! AmeriCorps volunteer recruiter, Tracy McInturff, says "we've got to provide opportunities for these kids so that they don’t make destructive decisions with their free time. Art is one of many ways to talk about what’s going on in their lives in a casual, fun setting. The results are amazing and sometimes shocking – adults need to pay attention to what’s going here and now and empower these kids to rise up." From a similar perspective, the Teen Coalition and Awareness Task Force leader, Manuel Colorado quotes "our youth suffer the consequences of domestic violence and it is our mission to stop the reproduction of it. We train them as leaders so that they can reach out to other teens, learn to trust each other and start healthy relationships with each other and with girls. We are happy to take part in the Visual Voices project and let the kids paint what they feel." Colorado primarily serves teenage boys ages 12-18 in all parts of the county.

After months of discussion – discovering problems and strengths in their community – the kids decided that some fun was in order. In late October last year, UNC Professor Michael Yonas and UNC second year graduate student, Rebecca Davis, met at the Siler City Community Building with the 4-H club and Teen Coalition to discuss a possible art project designed to begin the process known as "Visual Voices: Exploring and Celebrating Dynamics of Race, Culture and Ethnicity." Yonas is a professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. He is a core faculty member of the Injury Prevention Research Center at UNC and also has B.A. in Fine Arts. He created and has facilitated the Visual Voices project in 11 cities with almost a thousand kids since 1993. He brought some examples of paintings done in other areas that showed an artistic view of a better life done by Baltimore gang members who were trying to get out. These youth addressed issues concerning their lives, communities, and their future.

The project officially began for Siler youth in February where kids gathered in a safe, structured environment after school. Visual Voices is multi-layered and incorporates painting, writing, photography and a closing session. "We try to blend people’s thoughts into a painting with other kids", Yonas says. He adds, "at the heart of the project is an opportunity to collectively learn and respectfully share the meaning behind the work of the artists (the kids) which is the critique element of the project. I am very impressed with the groups’ artistic talent and ability to express their thoughts."

The finished product, a mural, will be 24 feet long by 3 feet high. The mural will then be launched at a reception and go on display in public buildings, art galleries and during other events scheduled throughout the year. "Chatham County and Siler City, especially, are very lucky to have someone like Michael Yonas come here to do this project. He treats the kids like they are his colleagues and they quickly learned to trust both he and his equally talented assistant, Rebecca Davis” says McInturff.

Chatham Arts provided a generous grant so there is no cost to the kids. The program is sponsored in part by Chatham County Together! and The Coalition for Family Peace.

For more information about Visual Voices, visit www.visualvoices.org, Chatham County Together! at 542-5155, and The Coalition for Family Peace at 742-7320.