Edition 35 — Emily Lyons Tough Love “I had no idea that I had this artistic ability to draw and paint.” Instead, 16-year-old Emily Lyons was interested in photography. “That’s when Myspace and Facebook were everything, and everyone was taking photos,” she said. When Lyons discovered that an organization called Artists For…

Edition 34—Sumeya Ali New Light “I have your self-portrait,” referring to the image of Sumeya Ali’s first painting at Artists For Humanity (AFH). “Oh, the one with the milk mustache?” Ali laughed. I could sense her wit, infectious energy, and attention to detail, even through a computer screen. As a creator in…

Edition 33—Silvi Naçi That’s What Social Equity is All About 14-year-old Silvi Naçi did not know much English when they immigrated to America from Albania. However, art-making was a language they comfortably spoke. Their fluency in art was nurtured from a young age by their mother. “I always went to art school—since I was in first grade…

Edition 32 — Will Lutz, Machinist “A Sense of Who I Am” “People find me calming to talk to. I‘m not sure why.” It’s probably because of how Will carefully fashions his sentences. He selects words with attentive precision as he recounts the complexities of his time during and after his experience working at Artists For…

Edition 31— Lauren Talbot A Family Affair Before Lauren Talbot officially joined Artists For Humanity in 1993, she was already intimately familiar with the people involved in the organization. She was friends with most of the original teen participants and had even been to Susan Rodgerson’s [AFH’s Founding Executive/Artistic Director]…

Edition 30 — Samantha Davern An Artist Turned Vet When Samantha Davern was a 15-year old freshman at Boston Latin School, she googled: “summer jobs for high school students.” A non-profit named Artists For Humanity popped up on her screen. …

Edition 29— Ayana Mack, Graphic Designer, and Artist “You can make your entire life full of art.” When I emailed Ayana Mack to schedule an alumni interview, her response was prompt; I got a reply the next day — Ayana would be free only five times that month. We agreed on a far-out day, although I was skeptical we’d…

Edition 28 — Adrian Romero, Illustrator Knowledge Is The Key In 2012, Adrian Romero was searching for a summer job when he came across Artists For Humanity through the Boston Youth Fund. “When I looked at the job listing it seemed like a very cool job to be paid to make art and get…

Edition 27 — Nyviana Colon A Ripple Effect One day in class, Nyviana Colon observed the Tweety Bird printed on the front of her agenda book. Bored with the lesson at hand, she decided to try drawing it. Her sketch came out better than she’d expected — she’d discovered that…