Calling All Young Artists and Poets to Celebrate Community Resilience

North Coast Action is inviting young people across the North Coast to share their vision of community through a Call for Youth Art & Poetry Submissions in connection with its May 1 Community Resilience Day celebration. Submissions will be featured in the May Day Community Gallery at the Free For All Market, 1268 Commercial Street, Astoria.

Young artists and poets of all ages are encouraged to submitan original poem, painting, or drawing on the theme of what community means to them. Submissions are due by 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, and may be dropped off during that day at the Free for All Market (open 10 a.m.–6 p.m.) or at any time before the deadline at Sleeper Coffee (open daily 7 a.m.–6 p.m.).

The call for submissions is one of two youth-focused events as part of Community Resilience Day on May 1. The second is a Youth Art Workshop from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Astoria Library Flag Room. Open to all ages, the workshop is led by local art teacher Laura Halsey Brown and invites young people to contribute their creativity to making a banner about community to be displayed at the May Day Community Gallery. A suggested donation of $10 is welcome but not required.

Laura Halsey Brown is an artist and an arts counselor. She has a Master of Fine Art and is a certified Art Peer Support Specialist, having used art to work with clients at a Mental Health Center. She is a graduate of the UCLA Arts and Healing program and has taken many trauma informed training courses, including receiving certification from the Association of Mental Health Coordinators. Before working at the intersection of art and mental health, she worked for 20+ years teaching arts-based social and emotional learning to youth, and she is certified with the WA Public Education Board (OSPI).

Community Resilience Day reflects North Coast Action's belief that building a stronger community starts with the people in it, including, and especially, its youngest members. The May Day Community Gallery will give youth voices a public platform during a day of events celebrating mutual aid, civic engagement, and collective possibility.

Both events are free and open to all. No registration is required for the workshop. For more information on Community Resilience Day and a full schedule of events, visit northcoastaction.com/mayday.