Recently the other youth advisors and I had a chance to visit the Urbano Art Gallery. For those of you that aren’t familiar, it’s an art program in Boston that recruits and encourages urban teens to express their views on social, political, and economic issues in their communities through art. I can surely say that the art these teens create are like nothing else; the pieces they come up with vary from paintings, to sculptures, to actual, physical objects. Personally, I would describe their crafts as very original and abstract.

I remember when we first entered through the door; I felt the room bursting with a jovial feeling. The walls were clean and plain white, and it felt as if the other youth advisors and I were in some type of museum. Of course, the people there were very friendly, and we had a chance to take a tour around the spacious area. The theme of the gallery was “The Freedom Trail On Trial”. The artists wanted to “execute a critical, artists’ investigation of the Freedom Trail” and bring the forgotten, historical facts of Boston (specifically the American Revolution) into light.

There were pictures of some of the youth leaders from the Urbano program up on the wall, and little exhibits depicting certain events in history; literally and symbolically. The most memorable one that stuck out to me was a large, plastic tree that reached to the ceiling of the room. On each branch of this tree hung a string with a small white sheet of paper, listing a person’s name. I was later told that the names were of people who were brutally hanged!

Towards the end of the meeting with the artists of Urbano, we all discussed our past experiences and how we could possibly express what we’ve been taught through art. The goal of this partnership was to get some ideas rolling about what artwork would be the best fit for the “Gallery @ 333”; outside of the Adolescent Medicine clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital. So far we’re off to a wonderful start. Hopefully you can come by and check out the gallery to see the new artwork on display very soon!

-Christina