RL Studios founder, Robb Lim, has been co-instructing an arts and activism program at Chester High School since 2019. Dreams of a student-produced art exhibit finally came to fruition this summer.
The Chester Change Agents (CCA) program aims to cultivate a space where young people can safely share commentary on relevant sociopolitical issues, examine the ways in which they can affect change, and work toward implementing actionable solutions through civic engagement and artistic expression. Developed in response to youth feedback and the current social landscape surrounding #BlackLivesMatter and similar movements, CCA centers on the contributions of Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC) in social justice advocacy and art.
Students decided sharing images that evoked Black Joy from their perspective can be a way to combat the negative narrative that is often portrayed in Black communities.
A huge theme of this program is being purposeful with your actions. The decision to use disposable cameras forces the photographer to be selective with the images they capture. We are used to taking hundreds of photos that we never look at again with today’s advances in smartphones. With these cameras, you only have 26 shots (make them count!)
In addition to the students' photography, they also selected colors from a variety of paint samples that evoked JOY. During our sessions with the CCA students, music was a universal source of joy. We decided to use the selected colors and paint records to symbolize the joy music brings us. You can find the painted “sculptures” floating in the left corner of the space.
Photography by: Apple Gillespie, Cheyenne Collier, and Anayja Byrd
