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…

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. Remembering the fun she’d…

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…

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…

Edition 26 — Lena Yee A Second Home When Lena Yee was little, her father asked her to draw pictures for him. In middle school, she experimented with graffiti and taught herself web design. And in 2009, as a sophomore at West Roxbury Academy, she learned that a nonprofit called…

Edition 25— Mattaya Fitts, Visual Artist and Muralist Good Surprises There’s a big misconception out there about artists: to create art is a decision they made, a chosen occupation. The truth is most artists don’t choose to make art for a living, they just can’t imagine themselves doing anything else. Mattaya Fitts’…