‘Kids in Focus’ exhibit to spotlight the perspective of Arizona youth
Posted 6/28/23
Scottsdale Public Art’s newest exhibition, “Kids in Focus,” running July 11 to Sept. 24 at Scottsdale Civic Center Library, features images produced by participants in the Kids in …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
(Submitted photo)
This image by Sofia is among the artworks featured in the “Kids in Focus” exhibition, opening April 11 at the Civic Center Public Gallery at Scottsdale Civic Center Library.
Things To Do
‘Kids in Focus’ exhibit to spotlight the perspective of Arizona youth
Posted
Scottsdale Public Art’s newest exhibition, “Kids in Focus,” running July 11 to Sept. 24 at Scottsdale Civic Center Library, features images produced by participants in the Kids in Focus after-school program.
Kids in Focus’s nine-week, evidence-based programs — for 10- to 14-year-olds who have experienced poverty, homelessness, neglect, or abuse — alter the course of troubled lives, providing these kids with a new perspective on themselves and the world around them, according to a press release.
Wendy Raisanen, curator of collections and exhibitions for Scottsdale Public Art, believes the “Kids in Focus” exhibition is a perfect example to show how making art is such a valuable tool for young people.
“This exhibition has become a great way for these young people to understand their place in the world and to know that they have a voice,” Raisanen said in a prepared statement. “I’m so happy to include work by one of the photographer mentors, Buzzy Sullivan, in the show, too.”
Sullivan, a Phoenix photographer, was a volunteer mentor who worked with the young artists to produce the images shown in “Kids in Focus.”
“The experience of being a Kids in Focus mentor is truly one of the most enriching parts of my life,” Sullivan said. “I often feel that, as a mentor, I’m learning more about my community than I could ever teach about photography. Photography is just the entry point into a meaningful and mutually beneficial connection.”
Sullivan has his own photography featured in the exhibition. The image comes from his current project called “The Static,” which is the second installation in a three-part project that explores Sullivan’s lifelong struggle of managing PTSD through being in the wilderness.
“I balance my roles of being a full-time professor of photography with also being a practicing professional photographer,” Sullivan said. “There is no lack of photography in my life, but I am always more than excited to go work with Kids in Focus.”
“Kids in Focus” will run from July 11 through Sept. 24 at the Civic Center Public Gallery, inside Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3948 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale.
For information, visit ScottsdalePublicArt.org/exhibitions.
