SOUTH DAKOTA
Posted October 28, 2020
During the last seven years, we collaborated with the Boys & Girls Club on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota to provide photography and vidoegraphy workshops. The Club works with youth living on the reservation to build the confidence and resilience they need to become healthy young adults. Under the guidance of our teaching artists, Club members between the ages of 8 and 13 have been encouraged to use their cameras to document what is important to them. They have produced a unique body of work that emphasizes their friendships, reflects their culture, and captures the beauty of the natural landscape.
STUDENT WORK
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB SUMMER PHOTO LEAGUE
COVID STORIES
When the Coronavirus pandemic prevented us from traveling to the Rosebud Reservation in 2020 to continue our photography workshops, we immediately switched gears and went virtual. We formed the Boys & Girls Club Summer Photo League and invited interested youth from the Club's Teen Program to join. With support from Media Art Xploration, we paid each League member a small stipend to use their cell phone cameras to document daily life over a six-week period during summer. At the end of each week, each League member uploaded their best photographs to 5 Corners teaching artists Josee Schryer and Robin Dahlberg. These photographs were then displayed on Media Art Xploration's Instagram and website, and the Club's Facebook page. As the above images illustrate, the Club youth produced a body of work that reflects the healing power of nature during a dark time.
