This year 2,027 submissions across the Bay Area were made to the annual Creative Youth Awards (CYA). Out of 572 awardees three Campolindo students, junior Angele Tseng, senior Emily Johnson, and sophomore Megan Sugiyama were recognized for their works.

According to the CYA website “the Awards are an opportunity for San Francisco Bay Area high school students to submit original artworks and performances across a range of creative disciplines, including visual art, film, music, dance, photography, and writing.”

Angele Tseng won a Special Award in the visual art category for her oil paint on canvas piece entitled Thank You, Grandma. Megan Sugiyama’s narrative piece Ohana received a Special Award in the creative writing category. Also in the creative writing category Emily Johnson’s dystopian short story Pothole on Third Street was given an Exceptional Award. Their works will be showcased at the Creative Youth Celebration on June 27th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). The celebration will feature performances, film screenings, and installations. Community members are encouraged to attend the free event and support young Bay Area artists and their accomplishments.

Tseng’s art piece was a tribute to her grandmother. “Oftentimes, she’s in the background for a lot of things, like when you help out around the house. I really wanted to carry in that idea of taking care of your family in the household because she left home when she was around 12 to take care of other people’s kids and do laundry for them, and now she’s taking care of our family in our home,” Tseng said.

Sugiyama wrote about her move from Hawaii to California as a young child. She said writing outside of a classroom setting has “opened up a space for me to express myself, where I can’t be judged.” Being recognized by CYA gave her confidence to continue honing her writing skills and expressing herself creatively.

Johnson has been immersing herself in the world of art since elementary school. She mentioned that her short story for CYA “celebrates the power of individual defiance. The loudest voice in the room is not always the most heard. Each of us has a spark that can light an explosion of change in our world, if we ignore others’ doubts and nurture it.” She found great value in participating in CYA and appreciates how it “gives us young artists a chance to prove to ourselves that the way we make a living someday can be through the creative projects which make us feel most alive.”

The arts create forums for us to explore our innermost emotions and thoughts – our anxieties, desires, and wonders. Fostering creativity in youth through awards and community celebrations is a way to emphasize the importance of the arts for everyone, of all ages, and their capacity to positively impact those who come in contact with them. The arts are not frivolous indulgences or mere pastimes. They are where culture evolves, stories are shared, and connections are built. A human world is a world that will always need art – and people to continue creating it.