This semester our Youth Corps was inspired by the embodied practices of musician and multi-disciplinary artist, Arca, and how embodiment can be an initial step to exploring trans artistry as well as most artistry in general.

Over a period of four-ish weeks our Youth Corps took time our of their days to reflect on a single embodiment meditation for 10-15 minutes. This meditation can be listened to below.

At the beginning of each week young artists were asked to take 15 minutes out of one their days to go through a guided body scan to bring awareness into their bodies as well as how they exist in space. Following this meditation, they then used artmaking in various mediums to reflect on their experiences. Over the program Youth Corps engaged in work that explored on/with paper (any art as long as paper is involved), sound, and movement.

Additionally, in relationship with Arca’s artistry, our Youth Corps used a discord server to share artistic inspiration, build creative community and host a weekly live stream every Wednesday evening for folks to share their creative process, current work, and get feedback on what their working on.

Through embodiment Youth Corps were able to create work that explored the self, interaction with space, and the feelings that arise when left alone to be present in a body. The following work presented here explores themes of heightened senses, daily routines, the desire to take time for oneself, and recognizing movement that isn’t always noticed.