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🎉 Join us on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the Bay Area Creative Foundation's fifth annual Creative Youth Celebration! Get ready for a day filled with creativity, inspiration, and fun! 🎨🎶🌟

This year's event will not only showcase the artwork and performances of the 2025 Creative Youth Awards artists, but also provide an action packed day of arts activities, professional artist panel discussions and the opportunity to connect with other young creatives from across the Bay Area! Whether you're into art, music, dance, film or any other form of creative expression, this event is for you!

This free public event is open to all! Mark your calendars and spread the word to all your friends. Let's make this a day to remember! See you there! 😄✨

SCHEDULE

12:00 – 5:00pm

  • Explore hundreds of award winning creative works

  • Watch film screenings

  • Participate in hands-on arts activities

  • Catch pop-up performances, including:

    • A string quartet (featuring original music by Grace L.)

    • Live readings from several youth poets (including Sophia D.)

    • High energy dance ensemble (featuring Risa H.)

    • Native American Pow Wow dance (featuring Tk H.)

    • Classical guitar performance (featuring Charlie G.)

1:00 – 1:30pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: Bringing Ideas to Life

Discover how to unlock your imagination and channel it into powerful creative projects. This panel explores the journey from brainstorming to bringing ideas to life, offering insights on fostering curiosity, making space for creative thinking, and navigating the practical steps to turn dreams into reality. Learn how artists shape their visions and make them tangible through thoughtful processes and intentional action.

  • Moderator: Daisy Nam

  • Rafael Flores

  • Mariella Gutiérrez

  • Frederick Noland

2:00 – 2:30pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: Art and Self-Discovery

Great art isn’t just about skill—it’s about authenticity. This panel explores how the creative process is a journey of self-discovery, where the more you understand and express your true self, the more powerful and impactful your work becomes. Panelists will discuss how embracing your unique perspective leads to deeper, more resonant art and how personal expression invites audiences to connect with their own emotions and experiences. Through conversation and reflection, this session will inspire young artists to see their creative practice as a lifelong pursuit of knowing themselves better—because the closer you get to your truth, the stronger your art becomes.

  • Moderator: Kathryn Wade

  • Kota Ezawa

  • Calvin Ray Shawler

  • Maw Shein Win

3:00 – 4:00pm
KEYNOTE SPEAKER & AWARDS CEREMONY

Joe Talbot, Writer & Director of The Last Black Man in San Francisco

In our final main stage session, you'll hear from keynote speaker Joe Talbot, enjoy incredible student performances, and - of course - celebrate the 2025 Creative Youth Awardees!

Before Joe Talbot won Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival, he was a woefully lost 20-something who didn’t know how to transform all of his feelings about his hometown into a movie. The visionary filmmaker behind The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Joe has a deep understanding of the region's creative spirit and social landscape. His presentation 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. Joe will share his creative journey, and offer insight into how to follow a creative idea and actually make a project happen.

2024 Highlights

The Creative Youth Celebration is the culmination of the Creative Youth Awards. This annual celebratory event recognizes the achievements of our participating artists, the review panel, and the BACF community.

Videos of the previous years Creative Youth Celebration performances and speeches are located on our YouTube channel here.

About the Creative Youth Celebration