The Napier Youth Photovoice Project: Moving Image to Action
Thursday, May 15th - 5:30 p.m.

Panel:
Emily Thaden and Jill Robinson, Project Directors
Youth Representatives
Mike Hodge, Neighborhood Resource Center
Michael McSurdy, Oasis Center

Since January, ten middle-schoolers who live in or around J.C. Napier public housing have documented their lives through photography, identified social issues affecting their community, and developed short-term actions for neighborhood change and long-term visions for community development. The Napier Youth PhotoVoice Project (NPV) produced a public exhibition and book as a call for social change because as one youth stated, “we just need more people to reach out to more people.”

The May Urban Design Forum will discuss how the project’s momentum can be harnessed to build broader civic participation, resident engagement, and community organizing initiatives through the community’s youth. How can youth engagement and social services be bridged with community organizing and resident-driven community development? What organizational collaborations and infrastructure are needed for this bridge? A panel of local experts in neighborhood and youth organizing will give brief presentations to frame a dialogue on the next steps of the project.