The Cheyenne River Youth Project® has received a Native Arts Capacity Building Initiative mini-grant from the First Nations Development Institute in Longmont, Colorado. This $2,000 professional development grant, made possible through the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, will ensure that the youth project’s staff receives critical arts training this year to support its ongoing youth arts programming.
In the next two months, six staff members will learn graffiti and street art history and techniques, and they will work with local artists to learn traditional Lakota beading styles and quill work. They also will work with local pottery artists to become more familiar with basic pottery techniques and all the necessary equipment.
“We’re thrilled to receive this grant from the First Nations Development Institute,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “These funds will allow us to continue building our arts initiatives here at our campus, from our summer arts program to our many arts-related activities and events throughout the year.
“I really like this grant, because it invests in staff who are, in turn, invested in helping our kids,” she continued. “We certainly can bring in outside artists and instructors to assist us, and we do, but when they go home, we want the learning and opportunities to continue. This grant helps us do that. Honestly, it’s the smart way to approach all youth programming — if you invest in your staff, you invest in your children. And that’s a huge win.”
Once they’ve completed the training, these six select staff members will be ready to lead CRYP’s Waniyetu Wowapi Summer Arts Program, which kicks off on Wednesday, July 1. Through the program, Cheyenne River’s young people will learn graffiti, street art, beadwork, quilling and pottery, and they will experience the excitement of exhibiting their work publicly.
The program can accept 50 applicants, although Garreau said the youth project will consider adding more slots if there is enough interest.
“We’re definitely expecting significant numbers for this summer’s art program, particularly since this is our first summer with the Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park and our teen art internships, and we’re also hosting our inaugural RedCan graffiti jam,” she said. “Like young people all over America, our youth have a deep need to express themselves. We understand that this self-expression can take shape in unhealthy ways, so through the art park and our arts programming, we’re giving our teens new tools, new skills and new creative outlets to explore.
“We’re committed to providing safe, healthy, positive ways for our kids to tell their stories and share who they really are,” she commented. “Our reservation comprises two of the poorest counties in the United States; that means children here have to grow up very fast, and poverty can cause damage at every level — physically, emotionally, mentally, socially and spiritually. We know that creative expression through the arts can provide a pathway to real healing, for our youth and for our entire community.”
The Cheyenne River Youth Project, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.