Centering Youth Voice Through Art
At the heart of this report’s call for transformation is an echoing need to center the voices of young people, recognizing that today’s youth are navigating a world where abortion is not accessible to all; states are passing harmful anti-trans and anti-gay legislation; and shamed-based, federally funded, abstinence-only sex education is still being taught in schools.
Recognizing a need to further center young people’s experiences with sexual health and sex education in the development of this report, Talia Cardin, Trailhead’s youth facilitator to the Board, and Isa Hussein, a youth member of the Board, facilitated two art workshops with students at AUL Denver and Inside Out Youth Services in Colorado Springs. The workshops invited students to produce a work of art that embodies their relationships to pleasure, sex, and their bodies using a framework that centers the voices of youth directly through art, pleasure, and joy.
In Their Own Words:
Youth Artwork Reflections and Lessons Learned
Written by Talia Cardin
“I am Talia Cardin (they/them). I am an artist, an activist, a young person, a change maker, and the youth facilitator for Trailhead and co-leader of this project. I create, envision, and love. I believe sex education is a vehicle for societal change, and an integral human right. Initially upon being hired by Trailhead I knew this report was an opportunity to privilege youth voices into decision making spaces, and had the power to alter how young people are able to engage with sex education. My participation and that of my peers in the creation of this report in itself models the reformation and ideal sexual health experience, where young people are regarded with dignity and respect, and have autonomy over our lives and education. Throughout this process, and all of my work, I promote an intentional centering of young people through equitable youth adult power dynamics. Throughout this process I have brought my lived experience as a young person to the table, but my voice alone is not representative of the nuanced experience my peers face in our daily lives, so I was constantly looking for more outlets to engage and center my peers.
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Young people are affected daily by the intertwining systems of oppression that inform and constrict sexual education, so it is only right that we should be able to influence and control what information we learn and the lenses through which we access that information. Currently adults in positions of power are able to decide on our behalf what potentially life altering education and information we will engage with, without consulting us. This rendition of the SASH flips this power dynamic on its head through intentionally centering young people’s lived experience through art and storytelling.
Art is fundamentally opposed to the current systems of sex education that are centered in conformity and shame. Art is a form of storytelling that celebrates self-expression, it is a vehicle to span barriers and connect across countries and cultures. Art is a tool of change. I, along with my co-facilitator Isa, created an art making workshop, Pleasure Artshop, where we could explore words such as Love, Joy, and Pleasure with other young people.
This art workshop was a representation of an ideal form of sex education, that celebrates the nuances of lived experience, expression, and exploration. Joy and pleasure are essential aspects of sexual health that are overlooked in curriculums that focus on fear, shame, and negative aspects of sexual health. In these workshops my peers and I explored our own personal definitions of pleasure, erotic, intimacy, love, and sex in comparison to the definitions of these words we have been taught. Many young people explored the relationship of their bodies, sexualities, and identities to the messages society sends about how they should be. We discussed how pleasure and the erotic can be a way to claim autonomy in one’s life, especially if you have not had autonomy over your body in other areas of life. We discussed the intersectionality of pleasure, and how it is not purely sexual, but can also look like living without fear in a black or brown body, or the right to not be sexual. Our conversations were supplemented with optional readings and reference artwork, such as “Uses of the Erotic: Erotic as Power” by Audre Lorde, All About Love by bell books, Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown, Disability and Reproductive Justice by Mia Mingus, Healthy Sexuality by Native Youth Sexual Health Network, and Anishinaabekwe conception art-making by Quill Violet Christie-Peters.
We compensated my peers for their time and participation in the art workshop as well as for the rights to use their artwork. This was vital to maintain the equitable youth/adult power dynamic, as young people are rarely compensated for their time or expertise on projects similar to this. When you equitably compensate young people for their time, and enable creative pathways of engagement, we show up with force and thoughtful consideration, and create beautiful change.”
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![Two faces in profile looking at each other on a starry purple background.]()
And Look At You, You Have So Much Meaning
By Saber Ali, a student at AUL Denver
“You can love whoever you want to. Relationships aren’t just about physical attraction, they are also about the connection between two people’s souls.”
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![Pencil sketches of three people with blue, purple, and red heads appear to look at a message about normalizing every type of pleasure.]()
You Are Normal
By Sam (He/Xey), a young person from Inside Out Youth Services
“Making this piece I was thinking of my own personal experience as an asexual and others possible asexual experiences with pleasure.“
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![Digital piece featuring a green road sign welcoming people to womanhood, with graffiti of stereotypes and common experiences of womanhood across the bottom.]()
Welcome to Womanhood
By Victoria Cordova, a student at AUL Denver
“Being a woman or someone who is female presenting , you often hear and see many disgusting things based on your gender or appearance. My inspiration came from things I’ve personally heard, things I’ve heard others called, and general stereotypes against women. Living in the world we live in has been difficult growing up as a girl, and I think it’s important to bring attention to the things we experience. So I asked my mom, my sister, my best friend and I researched to find common stereotypes and disgusting things we’ve all heard and experienced. I used digital art as a medium to create a sign with a bunch of phrases and I used the sign as a metaphor to say ‘take this as a sign to learn what we (women) experience.’ I’m sick of having to fight against the patriarchy and stereotypes; and I’m even more sick of having to fight for our rights. Women’s rights are human rights.”
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![Person drawn in charcoal stands, covering their lower abdomen with their hands, their body outlined in red and their eyes blurred.]()
Sexual Angst
By Devin Esquibel, a student at AUL Denver
“In this drawing I was trying to capture the fear in sex and the personal body for the young male teen. I decided to use mostly charcoal in this drawing because I I was trying to portray fear of the unknown through this shade. The red in the picture was meant to symbolize frustration due to this fear and the frustration of sexual angst in itself.”
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![Digital rendering of woman’s naked body in muted purple tones.]()
Soul and the Body
By Victoria Cordova, a student at AUL Denver
“Women’s bodies are often objectified, sexualized, and criticized. This art piece was inspired by the beauty of women’s bodies. It also can show that you can appreciate different bodies without sexualizing them. I’ve noticed that everyone always compares their bodies to others. I think it's important to understand that everyone's bodies are unique and beautiful no matter how you present. This project is also a way for me to portray ‘you are more than your body’ and you should love your body for all she does for you.”
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![Painted sketch of Vivi, a confident trans woman, depicted in vibrant colors.]()
Smearing Paint
By Nora (She/Her), a young person from Inside Out Youth Services
“When it came to sex education, my dad had decided to take me out of health class to teach me these things himself, believing the school’s education would not be appropriate. My sex education came down to abstinence only which took years to break out of that concept. Not only that but being a trans woman taught me that my body was abnormal and even demonic to some, so when it comes to self-portraits I decided to embrace this in a positive way and began drawing myself as a beautiful many eyed demon. I also drew art of a character from my comic named Vivi, she is a trans woman as well and embraces her sexuality and desires, in a way she was my own version of the confidence I wished to work towards.”
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![Painting of purple and blue flowers coming out of an anatomically accurate heart, with more flowers surrounding the base.]()
Untitled
By Julissa Blancas, a student at AUL Denver
“The meaning behind my painting is describing how people throw around the word love. A lot of people are not comfortable telling someone right away I love you and some people are. I’m one of those type of people that don’t really like telling people I love you for personal reasons but when you try describing it to someone they don’t understand you and just tell you it’s a word just accept it and just say it back, but deep down you can’t so I wanted to confined a heart describing love and the flowers coming out of it describe many emotions.”
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![Judge in black robes listens to two shadowy figures behind a podium. A mug with “Money, Money, Money” sits beside them.]()
He Didn't Listen
By an anonymous student at AUL Denver
“This piece is a judge that didn’t listen to a victim of sexual assault. Other people corrupted the judge’s decision.”
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![Mixed media piece featuring pink petals next to green leaves, giving an impression of being linked.]()
Untitled
By Aves (He/It), a young person from Inside Out Youth Services
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![Sketch of Vivi, a confident trans woman, depicted in black and white and smeared over with rainbow-colored paint.]()
Smearing Paint
By Nora (She/Her), a young person from Inside Out Youth Services
“When it came to sex education, my dad had decided to take me out of health class to teach me these things himself, believing the school’s education would not be appropriate. My sex education came down to abstinence only which took years to break out of that concept. Not only that but being a trans woman taught me that my body was abnormal and even demonic to some, so when it comes to self-portraits I decided to embrace this in a positive way and began drawing myself as a beautiful many eyed demon. I also drew art of a character from my comic named Vivi, she is a trans woman as well and embraces her sexuality and desires, in a way she was my own version of the confidence I wished to work towards.”
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![Pink ribbon flows across a white background.]()
Curves
By an anonymous young person from Inside Out Youth Services
“This piece depicts the experience of having a disability and its relationship with my sexuality. In my life I am missing a lot of personal autonomy despite reaching adulthood. I feel like I am perpetually in a space between tight ribbons and tangled lines. Although not always deliberately, individuals around me don’t perceive me beyond having a disability and as a result respond poorly when I behave my age per say. Specifically when it comes to my sexuality I find that it returns the personal autonomy the world took from me. This piece depicts the feeling of individual freedom in granted in my sexuality.”
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![Red, orange and yellow woman crouches in black underwear, showing her back.]()
Untitled
By Kaylene Claybaugh, a student at AUL Denver
“Women are so over sexualized for their bodies. It doesn’t matter what your body looks like or how old you are. But women are so much more. Yes we can be sexy, but we also have other pieces to us and you have to look deeper to see them.”
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![Painted man, woman, and gender fluid icons on a rainbow background.]()
Gender Fluidity
By Ariana Rodriguez, a student at AUL Denver
“The meaning behind my artwork is to make a stand as a gender fluid member of the LGBTQ [community]. I want to represent that we shouldn’t just have a female and male bathroom. We should always include another for all genders. We are all humans and alike in many ways and I believe we should have an all gender bathroom and get our freedom without getting judged/discriminated when walking into one.”
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![Woman’s black-striped torso framed in black on a gray and white background.]()
Self
By Agneda Blancas, a student at AUL Denver
“My piece is a representation of the independent growth of myself as a young woman; as well as the growth of contentedness I have learned with my body, and the increase of knowledge on my body’s anatomy.”
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![Painting of a person’s silhouette with long eye lashes and a ponytail with a red heart under their neck.]()
Untitled
By Itzel Rodriguez-Molina, a student at AUL Denver
“Females are a lot more than what’s on the outside. Some people just hit it and quit it, not realizing that they have feelings on the inside. This can cause insecurities and questioning themselves, so they start getting less intimate. I think we should be more considerate of human feelings.”
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![Colorful bouquet with various flowers, several that depict vulvas as part of the blooms.]()
Blossoming Womanhood
By Desire Morales, a student at AUL Denver
“I decided to use the bouquet of flowers concept because a bouquet is an assortment of different flowers. I wanted to bring attention to the fact that there are different types of vaginas and they are all beautiful!”
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![Person with long, curly hair stands with their chest and genitals censored, surrounded by messages about consent.]()
The Pleasure Is All Yours But My Body is Not
By an anonymous student at AUL Denver
“This piece represents the gift and the necessity of consent. Consent is given, not taken. It opens up the doors of beauty and secrets.”
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![Left hand with alternating pink, blue, and white nail polish painted on a piece of notebook paper.]()
Untitled
By Josie (They/Them), a young person from Inside Out Youth Services
“This is mostly a representation of my journey as a non-binary person. (I also consider myself trans which is seen by the colors on the nails), which has been very extensive in the grand scheme of things and difficult compared to many other things as well.”
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![Nude woman in a secret garden spreads her legs, revealing an eye over her vulva.]()
The Pleasure Is All Yours But My Body is Not
By an anonymous student at AUL Denver
“The nude woman is placed in a secret garden to show that consent is the key to the reveal.
Eyes are the window to the soul and mind. I placed an eye over her vagina because the vagina is the window of life.”
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![Red rose with curly green vines sits under the message, “For she was taught not be her self but to be a ‘lady’”.]()
Her
By an anonymous student at AUL Denver
“This piece is about womanhood. You are taught to be neat and clean and be beautiful and know how to cook and clean. But the overall message is women lose who they are by having to deal with these problems.”
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![Clay and mixed media sculpture of a kneeling woman, covered in colorful flowers and ferns in front of a stormy background.]()
Love Yourz
By Ali Sanchez, a student at AUL Denver
“This is a message to women: We are more than what people let us be. We are powerful and beautiful in all ways. No matter the body shape or the skin color. So love everything about yourself. We may not be perfect to what meets the eye, but we are perfect in our own way. And the only way to know that is by knowing your worth!”
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![Sketch of Vivi, a confident trans woman, encourages others to “Love your demonic self!”.]()
Smearing Paint
By Nora (She/Her) from Inside Out Youth Services
“When it came to sex education, my dad had decided to take me out of health class to teach me these things himself, believing the school’s education would not be appropriate. My sex education came down to abstinence only which took years to break out of that concept. Not only that but being a trans woman taught me that my body was abnormal and even demonic to some, so when it comes to self-portraits I decided to embrace this in a positive way and began drawing myself as a beautiful many eyed demon. I also drew art of a character from my comic named Vivi, she is a trans woman as well and embraces her sexuality and desires, in a way she was my own version of the confidence I wished to work towards.”
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![White cat with rainbow eyes emerges from the dark on a rainbow background.]()
Untitled
By Autumn (They/Them) from Inside Out Youth Services
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![Curving black lines painted over a diagonal rainbow background.]()
Curves and Queerness
By an anonymous young person from Inside Out Youth Services
“This piece represents the deep queerness and abstract nature that pleasure has for me.”
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![Painting of purple and pink feminine body in a black bikini on a black background.]()
Untitled
By Maria Galvin-Mireles, a student at AUL Denver
“I painted a thermal body to show that all types of bodies are perfect/normal. I feel that many girls are scared of intimacy as a result of body shaming. We should love ourselves first.”
