The Art of Violence Prevention
/“People can be hurting without anyone knowing.”
- Anonymous high school student on teen dating violence
Youth advocates teamed up with local high school teachers and students to make a TDVAM art show!
For Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, youth advocates at Walnut Avenue connected with Santa Cruz High School art teachers and students to collaborate on an art project around healthy relationships. Trained youth advocates presented in several virtual classrooms around the county on the topic of healthy and unhealthy relationships. After each workshop, students made art in response to the topic. Over 150 high school students participated in the workshops, and those who submitted art were entered into a raffle.
We also worked with art students from Cypress High School, Soquel High School, and San Lorenzo Valley High School. With the creators’ consent, the youth art we received will be displayed on our website, our social media, and in our building. We will be keeping the art displayed all year across all platforms.
With the presentation and art project, we aim to increase awareness about teen dating violence, increase teens’ confidence in identifying healthy versus unhealthy relationship behaviors, setting boundaries, and knowing when and how to seek additional support. In pre- and post-survey data from our workshops, students stated that they felt more personally confident in identifying and responding to healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors. We also found an increase in understanding how to ask for help and support others. The workshops were tailored to be about friendship as well as romantic/sexual relationships to encompass the many ways high school students experience relationships with other people, and the workshops were presented in LGBTQ+ affirming ways.
The purpose of this project was twofold. We aimed to first increase the awareness, dialogue, and confidence around maintaining healthy relationships and correcting unhealthy relationship behavior for youth in our area. Secondly, but just as importantly, we wanted to create an outlet for students to process that information and amplify their own voices and experiences on this topic.
Why art?
As an agency, we utilize art at nearly every turn in our advocacy and prevention work. We use art in our Kids Club (our program providing childcare for parents receiving services with us), our Warriors Group (our teen support group), our domestic violence hotline training, our story times at our Early Education Center, in one-on-one mentoring with youth, and in many of our outreach efforts. We typically use an art healing, evidence-based curriculum called A Window Between Worlds for which we have two certified facilitators.
We understand the power of art for healing and expressing oneself. We have also found art to be a powerful tool for education, amplifying marginalized voices, and regaining control over one’s own narrative. Regaining a sense of control over one’s life and its expression after experiencing violence, where control has been taken away, can be deeply healing, and art can help with that.
We wanted to give youth another opportunity to express themselves after what was potentially the most difficult and isolating year of their lives under COVID-19. We wanted to hear what they had to say so we aimed to create not only a dialogue, but a connection. We did this hoping that these students would know safe adults are out there to have real conversations with about relationships and staying safe.
Do you have to be good at art to benefit from making art?
Not at all! As part of this project (and how we utilize art in other aspects of our work), we asked for art of any style, any experience/skill level, and using any materials. You can make art using a piece of paper and a highlighter. You can make art using just your body through dance or other movements. You can make art on your tablet or computer. You can make art with a camera phone. You can make art in a notebook with a pencil or a pen. Art is all around us and always available to us. It can be visual, vocal, written, and/or embodied. It doesn’t need to be shared or appreciated by others to be worth making. If it makes you feel better, then create it. What matters is something now exists which wasn’t there before! And if you do choose to share it, then we all benefit from witnessing your experience - especially if your experience is often left out of the conversation.
What was this experience like?
We learned a lot about how teenagers think and engage with tough topics like teen dating violence, boundaries, consent, healthy relationship behaviors, safe adults, supporting their peers, and asking for help. We were reminded that teenagers know a lot already!
A dialogue began in these classrooms and then was continued with each piece of art made. And through all of this, we as violence preventionists were again reminded of the resiliency, bravery, vulnerability, compassion, curiosity, openness, and wisdom of the youth in our community. We are very lucky. We are hoping to continue this art show tradition next year as well!
When asked what their biggest take-aways were from this experience, we received these responses from youth:
“That communication is key, whether that be asking for help, or communicating your needs in a relationship.”
“Recognizing unhealthy relationships is easy, leaving is what's harder”
“its bad and that I need to look out for warning signs, which I have been educated on.”
“The biggest take away I had was that often people don't respect their own boundaries because they don't want to make their partner feel bad.”
“My biggest takeaway is how much it helps to just care and listen to someone in need instead of making them feel bad about themselves for their situation.”
“It's more prevalent than people think.”
Youth Responding to Youth Violence
NOTE: Students who submitted art to us also consented to having their art and artist statements shared publicly. For all students, sharing their art was voluntary; many teachers chose to make the assignment itself voluntery as well, given the sensitivity of the subject. We are only sharing art that we have explicit permission from students to share.
This is only a handful of the art we received. For the rest of the art, please visit our TDVAM art show page here.
Cypress High School
Carmea, 15 - “Bound to Boundaries”
ARTIST STATEMENT: My name is Carmea. I am 15 years old. This piece is a digital painting called “Bound to Boundaries”. It is saying that it is good to acknowledge your and others boundaries. I hope others view this piece seeing that they should share (understand) the boundary line, but never cross over it. I learned that many people don’t think to ask about each other's boundaries, and they shouldn’t assume.
Alexander
ARTIST STATEMENT: In my art piece I used the rule of thirds by placing the main character with the green hair on the dividing line to the left side of the page. On the right side dividing line of the page, I placed the thought bubble of his thoughts about his abusive relationship, also using the rule of thirds. I tried to make the focal point the man with the green hair by having his hair be the most outstanding colour from the purple background. After you see the green haired man you see his thoughts and focus in on the green haired man being slapped by the red haired women.
Iris Hobbs, 16 - “What is Consent?”
ARTIST STATEMENT: My name is Iris Hobbs and I’m sixteen years old. I haven’t really given the title much thought but it might be along the lines of “What is Consent?” In terms of materials this project was more on the simple side as the only resources used were paper and colored pencils, but that also kinda goes along with what I was trying to say in my art piece, which goes with the promptly about consent. In my drawing I’m trying to represent consent and mainly what doesn’t qualify as consent as the examples in the piece are often used as excuses for consent. I didn’t want to add a ton of detail and such and rather have it plain and simple just like what the act of consent doesn’t look like and as simple as no means no. I hope that if people were to see this it would educate others about what consent does and does not look like as well as maybe inspire others to continue to shine light on this important topic. I learned that even though this topic is talked about fairly often it’s still something that is so common and normalized and people should continue to speak up about it.
Sophia, 16 - “Isolation”
ARTIST STATEMENT: I used graphite and watercolor. I sketched out the human form, and then the flowers with a pencil, and then I watercolored it.
Isolation is a very difficult thing. When you are going through something like abuse, you feel alone. Reaching out is incredibly difficult and not always safe. There are other people who know what you are going through, because they have gone through it too. And they made it to the other side, which means that you can too. Because you deserve to be treated well. You deserve people in your life who know how special and valuable you are. There is hope and beauty all around you, you just might need to look a little harder to see it.
This was an interesting project for me. I’ve never made art about such a specific topic before, but that made it easier for me to find inspiration. I connected with this prompt, and all of my love and hope goes out to the people in these situations.
Marianna Vezey, 17 - “We can connect and Maintain Separate Identities”
ARTIST STATEMENT: My name is Marianna Vezey and I am 17 years old. The title of my piece is “We can connect and maintain separate identities." I used watercolor, gouache, and pen. The message I was trying to convey is that in relationships, platonic or romantic, you can enjoy each other's presence while still maintaining boundaries and having connections with other people. I hope that people who see my artwork think about whether they’re respecting their boundaries and other’s boundaries. While making this piece, I learned more about the different forms boundaries can take; sometimes it means taking a step back from relationships and other times it means being more supportive; boundaries are rather fluid. I did a base of watercolor for each blob, then painted the face shapes in gouache, and finished it off with inking the faces with pen.
Soquel High School
Lilah Ross (#1)
Lilah Ross (#2)
Nicholas Wodtke
San Lorenzo Valley High School
Zane Krikke, 17 - “Love holds all beauty”
ARTIST STATEMENT: Pencil, colored pencils, colored markers The world looks most beautiful with the right person so treat them like it’s just the two of you on Earth. How we can all be dark on the inside, but the right person can bring the truth and beauty out of us. I learned that love comes in many different forms and if you want to be happy you must find the one that best fits you. For me it’s companionship and truth. I went over my drawing first with pencil to form the outline then I went over it with colored pencils and drew in most of the design then finished it with the markers to make everything stand out more clear.
Serena
Sofi Arrasjid, 18 - “Healthy Relationships”
ARTIST STATEMENT: My name is Sofi Arrasjid and I am 18 years old. My artwork is called “Healthy Relationships” andI made this piece with a photoshop application. I created it to represent the ways our personal relationships can influence our mindset and feelings, so it is very important to be careful who you allow into your life. I hope that my artwork will make people consider how important it is to be aware of the effect other people can have on your own life