about us endowment gateways support the arts giftshop
education programs festivals events calendar









The Teen Arts Puentes Project
is an arts activism and youth development program for San Antonio teenagers ages 13-17.  Its mission is to use the arts to develop young people as effective social leaders and active civic participants through challenging artistic projects. The Teen Arts Puentes Project is unique in San Antonio as a long term, year round program designed to support the critical, social, developmental, and intellectual needs of youth from all over San Antonio .
The program is guided by the belief that art has a practical purpose in society and that art can be useful even for those who do not choose the arts as a long term career path. Projects challenge participants to work together in a positive, supportive environment that promotes respect and empathy for one's peers, mentors, and external community, in addition to problem solving through a diversity of ideas.

Members of the Teen Arts Puentes Project participate in workshops in Theater, Poetry, Video Art, and Visual Art. The workshops are led by professional artists in an apprenticeship structure where young artists work hand in hand with lead artists on projects to gain experience and learn about the artist's respective crafts. Crucial to the project is that the creative work is informed by ideas and issues generated from the young people themselves and that it has community impact.

In the Summer of 2007, the Teen Arts Puentes Project took part in a one-of-a-kind collaboration with the Dreamyard ACTION Project, a teen arts and activism group from New York City . For 2 weeks, the Teen Arts Puentes Project and the Dreamyard ACTION Project worked on-site at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, participating in arts workshops, holding forums on artistic, personal, and social issues, taking excursions to local San Antonio arts institutions, and meeting with San Antonio based artists who shared their experiences and ideas with the two groups of young artists. The 2 week collaboration culminated in a multimedia performance at the Guadalupe Theater on July 27 th , where the more than 30 participating teen artists exhibited their work to a packed audience. The show was such a success that the Dreamyard ACTION Project has extended an invitation to the Teen Arts Puentes Project to visit them in New York for the summer of 2008.

You can help make this happen. The Teen Arts Puentes Project is currently raising the funds to maintain the program and make the summer trip to New York . Contributions are payable to:   
     
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
For The Teen Arts Puentes Project
1300 Guadalupe Street
San Antonio , TX 78207


http://www.myspace.com/teenartspuentesproject

http://www.youtube.com/PuentesLive

Arts and activism Web

Valentino Lucio

Express-News

 

 


Summer Arts Intensive
JUNE/JULY 2008
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center was founded in 1980 as a nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization. Located in the heart of San Antonio’s west side, the Guadalupe is the largest community-based, multi-disciplinary organization in the United States.Our mission is to preserve, promote and develop the arts and culture of the Chicano/Latino/Native American peoples for all ages and backgrounds through public and educational programming in six disciplines: Dance, Literature, Media Arts, Theater Arts, Visual Arts and Latin Music.
The Teen Arts Puentes Project Summer Arts IntensiveThe Teen Arts Puentes Project’s mission is to use the arts to nurture the growth of adolescents in a positive environment where they can build individual talents, develop social The Teen Arts
Puentes Project members will participate in workshops in theater, visual art, poetry, and film, with projects and events focused on fostering healthy personal relationships, community activism, and self-reliance. The Teen Arts Puentes Project members will be given hands on training by professional teaching artists. Each session will culminate in a performance/exhibition. The Teen Arts Puentes Project is committed to empowering the teens in the program by inclusion into the decision making process of the greater community. The Teen Arts Puentes Project members will have creative and decisive input into the vision of the performances and exhibitions as well as decisions concerning day to day programming. The Teen Arts Puentes Project team believes in a democratic collaborative approach to art where all voices are respected.IMPORTANT: EVERYONE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE TEEN ARTS PUENTES PROJECT SUMMER ARTS INTENSIVE MUST FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND ATTEND AN ENTRANCE INTERVIEW.

THE INTERVIEW OPEN HOUSE WILL TAKE PLACE ON
SAT. MAY 24TH FROM 10AM TO 2PM.
Please call for extented interview time.
210.271.3151
GET THERE EARLY. SPACE IN THE PROGRAM

For more information about theTeen Arts Puentes Project
visit www.guadalupeculturalarts.org www.myspace.com/teenartspuentesprojeact
Or email Vincent Toro at
vincentt@guadalupeculturalarts.org