FotoFinish: Youth Voices, Youth Action

On view: April 22–May 20, 2023

Silver Street Studios
2000 Edwards St. Houston, TX 77007

Youth Reception: Saturday, May 20, 2023

FotoFest's Learning Program presents an exhibition of photography and writing by Houston Students.

FotoFest’s Learning Program is proud to present its annual exhibition, FotoFinish: Youth Voices, Youth Action, featuring artwork created by Houston-area K–12 students in conjunction with FotoFest’s in-school, after-school, and summer learning program. The exhibition features photography and writing by over 500 students from across the Houston metroplex, representing 31 classrooms that used the Literacy Through Photography curriculum to learn essential writing and artistic skills based on four universal themes: self, home, community, and dreams.

Every year, FotoFest’s FotoFinish exhibition highlights the progress of Literacy Through Photography students as they work with FotoFest Teaching Artists to develop visual, verbal, and cultural literacy skills by looking at photography, making photographs, and writing. FotoFest Teaching Artists travel to Houston-area schools, providing cameras and supplies, and facilitating lessons that inspire students to take control of their learning environment. This exhibition demonstrates the ways photography and writing can be used as tools for freedom and expression by youth.

FotoFinish: Youth Voices, Youth Action is on view April 22–May 20 in Silver Street Studios and is organized by Leticia Contreras, Chelsea Jones, Haven Jones, Sha’Na Smith, and Alexia Torres.

FotoFinish Youth Voices in 2023

Photograph taken by Fourth Grader from Roberts Elementary featured in exhibition FotoFinish: Fun in the School Zone, 2022. Houston, TX. Courtesy of FotoFest.

LITERACY THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY TEACHING ARTISTS

Leticia Contreras, Tyarra Hogan, Chelsea Jones, Haven Jones, Sha’Na Smith, and Alexia Torres

LITERACY THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY 2022-23 SCHOOL RESIDENCIES

Blackshear Elementary, CHAT (Culture of Health-Advancing Together), Chavez High School, Emerson Elementary, Eight Million Stories: HISD REAL, Franklin Elementary, George Sanchez North, Hartman Middle School, R Martinez Elementary, Rhodes School for Performing Arts, Roberts Elementary, Yates High School, Whidby Elementary

EXHIBITION TOURS 

Exhibition tours for schools are available by emailing FotoFest Learning Programs Manager Chelsea Jones at chelsea@fotofest.org or calling 713-223-5522.

FOTOFINISH SPONSORS

FOTOFINISH FUNDRAISER CHAIR
Kath Blanco

FOTOFINISH: YOUTH VOICES, YOUTH ACTION SPONSORS
Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, The Powell Foundation, Arts Connect Houston, Harris County Department of Education: CASE for Kids, Young Audiences of Houston.

FOTOFEST MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS

Houston Endowment, The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation, The Powell Foundation, Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, The Wortham Foundation, John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation, The Susan Vaughn Foundation, Judith and Gamble Baldwin, Wendy Watriss and Frederick Baldwin, David and Martha Moore, and FotoFest Board of Directors.

FOTOFEST ANNUAL FUND

The FotoFest Annual Fund is supported by the Sanford and Joan Alexander Foundation, Mary Kay Casey, Vivian Fung, Carola Herrin, William M. and Rosalie B. Hitchcock, Frazier King, Warren Kolb, Sandy Jo Lloyd, Christopher Rauschenberg, Alexander Stuart, Jan Van Lohuizen, Erla and Harry Zuber, and many other generous donors.

ABOUT THE LEARNING PROGRAM

The Learning Program presents educational opportunities to K-12 students through the presentation of lessons, workshops, and tours that combine photography and writing. The Learning Program team includes a group of professional teaching artists and educators who utilize FotoFest’s Literacy Through Photography curriculum to provide students with a creative outlet to develop their visual, verbal, and cultural literacy. The Learning Program activities are presented in Houston-area classrooms, at FotoFest, and globally, online.
 
Literacy Through Photography is a performance-based curriculum that emphasizes students’ ability to do or perform their acquired knowledge and skills, while aligning to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards. The curriculum offers educational activities and experiences that use visual, verbal, and cultural literacy practices to support students’ development of identity, belonging, knowledge, efficacy, and agency. Using photographic artworks that examine various social, cultural, and political histories and contemporary life as objects for critical analysis, students are guided through producing original photography and writing to share their perspectives and activate their purpose. Throughout a student’s experience with a Literacy Through Photography project, tour, or workshop, they gain tools and practice for self-expression and self-determination.