Advocacy Through Art Presents:
A Year in Isolation: Youth Mental Health

A Year in Isolation: Youth Mental Health is a group show featuring works from various Bay Area teenagers curated by Advocacy Through Art. Advocacy Through Art is a youth run, nonprofit organization dedicated to using art as a medium to facilitate conversations regarding important issues in the community. Through our own experience living through the COVID-19 pandemic, we have found ourselves using art to express our feelings of isolation, joy, frustration, etc. Our show hopes to bring light to youth mental health during the pandemic as well as provide a platform for student artists to showcase their works. With this show, we aim to lessen the stigma around youth mental health by using art as a way to spread awareness, foster important conversations, and hopefully provide students with a light from which they can regain happier lives.

Huge thank you to our sponsors Palo Alto Art Center, Pacific Art League and Thinkfund. Without their support this show would not have been possible. Additionally, we are immensely grateful to all of our student artists who submitted work and were vulnerable with us. Be sure to check out the show across both our locations, Palo Alto Art Center and Pacific Art League, and visit our website at advocacythroughart.org. We hope you walk away with a better understanding about how the pandemic has impacted youth mental health. Thank you for visiting.

ADA MISSION

Advocacy Through Art aims to use art to foster awareness regarding important issues in the youth community.

Through the learning of new ideas and techniques, we strive to create conversations while helping others to discover their inner artist.

WHO WE ARE

We are a collective of Palo Alto high schoolers who are passionate about using art to facilitate conversations regarding important issues in our community.

Emily - President & Founder
Amanda -Head of History Enrichment
Andrew - Vice President + Head of Mixed Media & Design
Riley - Head of Nonprofit Partnerships
Alister - Head of Photography
Alexandra - Artist in Residence
Kayley - Gallery Manager
April - Social Media Lead
Lila - Public Art Coordinator

Learn more at Advocacy Through Art

Advocacy Through Art, a subsidiary under Art Empowers All, is a 501c(3) nonprofit created by Palo Alto teens. We aim to use art to foster awareness regarding important issues in the youth community.

IMG_5488 (1).jpg — Theme of the Year

Mental Health

Silicon Valley, as the center of the tech world, has long been known for its tremendous innovation and educational opportunities. Start-ups are constantly pushing the boundaries on how we can learn most effectively, and the world of technology is always surrounding us. Palo Alto’s high schools serve as the convergences of everything Silicon Valley has to offer, and while the resources we have at our fingertips are incredible, the intense academic environment that results puts even more pressure on teens who are already facing stressful college processes or job markets.

While many residents are aware of the tragic deaths of Palo Alto high school students by suicide, the daily mental struggle of teenagers in Silicon Valley along with its root causes often remains undiscussed. With the standard goings of high school experiences being stripped away this year - not just hallmarks like prom and graduation, but the daily rejuvenation of socializing and forming personal connections - on top of the grief that ubiquitously accompanies the COVID-19 pandemic, we high school students have especially found ourselves struggling mentally. Being isolated with our families and staring at screens all day has led to many of us suffering silently.

This year, Advocacy Through Art aims to lessen the stigma around youth mental health by using art as a way to spread awareness, foster important conversations, and hopefully provide students with a light from which they can regain happier lives.

We hosted a webinar on March 5th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm called Let’s Talk: Youth Mental Health where mental health professionals and students participated in conversations about youth mental health. Then, we will host a series of artist workshops in March to allow students to destress as well as educate them on how to use art as a medium to spread mental health awareness and express themselves. Finally, in June, we will host our annual community art exhibition about youth mental health in partnership with the Palo Alto Art Center and the Pacific Art League. This show will feature works from local Palo Alto teens. Through our 2021 programming, we hope to raise thoughtful discussions about youth mental health in the Palo Alto adult and teen community.

Participating Artists

Alexandra - Palo Alto High School
Amelie - Henry Gunn High School
Annabel - Henry Gunn High School
April - Palo Alto High School
Areli - Castilleja School
Audrey - Henry Gunn High School
Baylee - Castilleja School
Blair - Palo Alto High School
Bridget - Los Altos High School
Claire - Castilleja School
Elise - Hayek
Ella - Borel Middle School
Eri - Irvington High School

Eva - Palo Alto High School
Genia - Castilleja School
Irene - Henry Gunn High School
Isabella - Homestead High School
James - Henry Gunn High School
JT - Palo Alto High School
Lila - Castilleja School
Maggie - Prospect High School
Marissa - Palo Alto High School
Meya - Palo Alto High School
Misha - Woodside High School
Morgan - Los Gatos High School
Nicole - Irvington High School

Nishi - Henry Gunn High School
Oren - Henry Gunn High School
Riley - Castilleja School
Rosalind - Fletcher High School
Samika - Saratoga High School
Sanya - Monta Vista High School
Sela - Castilleja School
Serena - Valley Christian High School
Sophia - Palo Alto High School
Syma - Henry Gunn High School
Talia - Castilleja School
Vy - William C. Overfelt High School