May 15, 2025 - 2025 Creative Youth Celebration Announcement Press Release
5th Annual Creative Youth Celebration Honors Bay Area Youth Artists with FREE Public Art Event and Showcase at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on July 19th
Image: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts administers the San Francisco (photo credit: Tommy Lau)
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA (May 15, 2025) - Now in its fifth year, Bay Area Creative Foundation (BACF) will host a full-day, program-packed Creative Youth Celebration event on Saturday, July 19th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The event serves as a culmination to the annual Creative Youth Awards Program, which recently awarded nearly $116,000 to 605 Bay Area high school students.
Admission is free and - for the first time in its history - the event will be open to the public. In addition to celebrating this year’s nearly 2,000 Creative Youth Awards participants and showcasing hundreds of artworks and performances, this year’s main stage will feature Joe Talbot, the visionary filmmaker behind The Last Black Man in San Francisco. A San Francisco native himself, Talbot brings a deep understanding of the region's creative spirit and social landscape. His keynote will speak to the power of youth storytelling, the role of art in community building, and the importance of equipping youth with the tools and belief to turn imagination into action.
Throughout the event, Yerba Buena will come alive with hands-on activations by program partners including Museum of Craft and Design, Root Division, Women’s Audio Mission, and MasterClass, offering hands-on creative experiences for all ages. Visitors can join panel discussions led by arts leaders such as Kota Ezawa, Ruby Ibarra, Daisy Nam, Frederick Noland, Maw Shein Win, and more! From an extensive photography showcase, pop-up dance and musical performances, film screenings, visual art gallery, and creative writing displays, the Creative Youth Celebration truly has something for everyone!
"The Creative Youth Celebration, which began during the Covid-19 lockdown, has grown from a live-streamed virtual event, to a small ceremony, and finally we are able to produce a full-day, interactive free festival for the general public, featuring student performances, exhibitions, and activations led by esteemed arts organizations,” said BACF Executive Director, Lani Rovzar. “Our goal is to make the Celebration, which brings together creative high school students from all nine Bay Area counties, the most anticipated annual youth arts gathering in our region.”
BACF looks forward to welcoming not only the 2025 CYA artists, but also hundreds of their supporters, educators, and broader Bay Area community members. For more information about the agenda, featured artists, and logistics, please visit www.bayareacreativefoundation.org/celebration. Admission is free, but registration is required. For media pass credentials, please contact grace@bayareacreativefoundation.org.
About the Bay Area Creative Foundation:
The Bay Area Creative Foundation is a nonprofit established in 2019 to celebrate, cultivate, and inspire creativity in youth and young adults. We believe in fostering a society that embodies creative spirit, art, and innovation. Through our annual awards program, we recognize artistic expression and encourage community support for high school artists working in a range of disciplines in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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