Edition 38—Joel Balbuena Kind, Curious, Hardworking Artists For Humanity (AFH) alumni often describe the organization as having opened doors to countless opportunities. Joel Balbuena has a slightly different take. “I actually think it closed my exploration,” he said. “But that’s not a bad thing. That’s a great thing.” A Boston native from Mattapan…

Edition 37— Da Thao Nguyen Coming Full Circle “My name is Da Thao Ngyuen, but I go by D.T.” Da Thao, aka D.T., tells her story with exceptional ease. Her answers to my questions are straightforward, without needless embellishments. Perhaps I expose her modesty when she credits her high school self as a…

Edition 36— Chantale Regnier Little By Little Chantale Regnier has worked in every sector of the fashion industry: creative, business, and even production. Surprisingly, her most cherished memory from Artists For Humanity (AFH) and the time spent honing her skills has nothing to do with fashion. Regnier, a New York City-based designer, recalled…

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. …