Youth on Record-Student Albums

Jenn Cohen | May 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

The Culmination of a Semester

by Nathan Schmit

Each quarter, Youth on Record (YOR) instructors ask our students to consider what images and words shape their personal identity. How do they feel about themselves? How do they want people to see them? This process is part of a ten-week music production course, which culminates with the creation of student albums. These albums are comprised of one or two tracks chosen by each student, which represents what they believe is their best work from the course. Student albums are reserved for those who have finished a significant body of work. Those who have completed the YOR course requirements are asked to submit an idea for their own album cover, which then becomes a collaboration between the student and the instructor.

Personal album covers give our students the opportunity to visually represent themselves to the world on their own terms. Because of the nature of the population we work with, student identities are always protected. Therefore, students must be creative in their approach to the making of the album artwork.

An example of a student album cover.

In the winter quarter at Synergy School, Diana Sabreen, founder of Shoot Cameras Not Guns, an organization that uses photography as means of self-expression, peace-keeping, and social change, graced our classroom and helped students find new ways to create personal album covers. Together, Diana and the students used light graffiti to illustrate various images and scenes.

Group image of Denver and the mountains.

This year we plan to bring together some of Denver’s best visual artists with Youth on Record students to create one-of-a-kind album covers. Look for these collaborative creations in a gallery near you November and December.

Check out the rest of the album covers at www.shootcamerasnotguns.blogspot.com

Check out the student compilations at www.youthonrecord.org.

Youth on Record, a program of Flobots.org, empowers young people in residential treatment to express themselves through music. The following are fantastic examples of how powerful our student’s words can be. We count on them to inform us how about they see the future and their role in it, so that we may best help them prepare for life outside of their treatment facilities. It is truly amazing what many young people will do and say when given an opportunity to succeed.

ABOUT FLOBOTS.ORG

Founded in 2007 by the internationally known Denver hip-hop collective Flobots, Flobots.org connects underserved youth across Colorado with music and empowerment education. Led by a network of professional musicians, artists and educators, Flobots.org programs are designed to harness the power and those who love it.