Alternatives, Inc.
The Challenge
How can youth have a say about the things that affect them?
Design direction
Support a youth-led process
Outcomes
Youth identified gang violence as an important issue and created an artistic statement that circulated on 100 CTA buses and trains to encourage dialogue and action in the public sphere
Project Brief
Over the course of eight weeks, we met with youth at Alternatives and facilitated discussions, centering youth voices. Collectively the youth identified overpolicing in their neighborhood as an issue they wanted to address.
Using cameras, each of them documented life in their neighborhood. Photos included police interventions and activity as well as healthy and desirable community spaces .
As photographs were compiled and dialogue continued, the group decided to create a collage that would be reproduced as placards that were placed in CTA buses to instigate public dialogue and grow awareness. They contrasted a heavy police presence with healthy and vibrant community practices.
The Team
Diana Solis
co-teaching artist
Youth in the Restorative Justice program
