Young Refugee Artists: The Launch of A Month-In-The-Life Series

Monthly posts in the Refugee Artist Support Circle Section of The Creative Convergence chronicle the lives of young refugee artists living in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda

The path of life twists and turns and lands us in unexpected places, virtually or otherwise. This year, I twisted and turned along many a path which included developing a relationship with a young refugee artist collective in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda: Nakivale Young Talent Community, led by 22-year old changemaker

AKON DEOGRACE

.

Akon Deograce, Center, with two other members of the NYTC Artist Collective, on a trip to the UNHCR headquarters recently.

NYTC is not only a refugee-led young artist collective, it’s a community-based organization that provides art education and other creative expressive opportunities for 80 children ages 5 to 25!

My relationship with NYTC has grown over the months, starting with the June 1st Online Young Artist Expo, continuing on to building their new Art Education Center, and hosting the second online expo and art auction in late September.

On a nearly daily basis, I receive stories, pictures and video from their founder Akon Deograce, always rich with detail. I’ve followed their many ups and their many downs over the last couple of months.

Artist facilitator/teachers help students practice presenting their art in front of each other in the new Art Education Center every Friday.

It would be a missed opportunity to not share these stories with the outside world. So few people get to be so closely connected to people 8,000 miles away. And, particularly these people who I have grown to consider an extended part of my family.

Refugee Artist Support Circle

I started the Refugee Artist Support Circle section on The Creative Convergence in June to both chronicle their lives but to also offer people an opportunity to support their work.

Read more about the Support Circle, how to subscribe to it as a special Substack section, and what upgrading to a paid subscription means for you and for this young refugee artist collective in this introductory post below!

All Issues Available Now!

Over the holiday, I have finally managed to put all of my weekly notes, photos, and videos (including many that live on my YouTube channel) into monthly stories, backfilling six intense, fulfilling, exciting, and scary months worth of their stories. You can now read them all here for free!

Creative Expression is A Life Saver

Refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and other East African countries, these artists are forging a new life in what can only be considered a temporary home (while many have lived there for a decade or more).

They are doing their best with what they have, buoying each other, keeping hope, staying active, drawing, painting, modeling, dancing, singing, and inspiring others to do the same.

Dancing on a mountain. Artists traveled to a nearby mountain to gain inspiration of nature, let loose, and enjoy themselves!

Creative expression with community has become a life saving, life changing opportunity for these artists. They have co-created this opportunity together. And, we, their cheerleaders, donors, and supporters, have been there to help them build and maintain the capacity to keep doing the work.

Join me in supporting these young artists.

You can do so by… reading, sharing, subscribing, commenting, liking, and if you so choose, upgrading your subscription!

You can also do all or some of the above as well as make a donation. I support the artists’ safety, security, health and well-being and it’s hard to do it alone. I would love some art-loving compadres to lend a hand!

Thank you so much for your time and support!