Wendy Mike

FutureSelf: Art for Teens
At-risk youth unlock their inner success

The name of the non-profit organization Wendy Mike founded four years ago as an SELP project says a lot about its mission. Called FutureSelf, (www.futureself.org) the Colorado Springs organization's goal is to help at-risk teens transform themselves into the successful people she knows they are capable of becoming. And, what is FutureSelf's secret for unlocking these teenagers' inner success? Art. Through weekend-long intensive workshops, “spring break” and summer programming and various collaborations that team local artists with teens, Mike says FutureSelf empowers teens in ways that therapy or counseling cannot.

"Teenagers are caught between two worlds - no longer children, but not yet adults either. They are often unaware of how powerful they are" she says, “especially if they have been exposed to various risk factors or haven't experienced much success in life”. While counseling tends to dwell on past events, FutureSelf's goal is to get teens to focus on a successful present and the future. Art is the perfect vehicle to accomplish that. Recent studies have shown that kids who are steeped in activities such as the arts are much less likely than other kids to engage in counter-productive behavior. "There is nothing that causes me to be as present in the moment as the creative process,” Mike says. “I believe that having a powerful productive experience in the present plants the seeds for a positive future."

Students regularly fill out exit evaluations after they complete FutureSelf workshops. One girl wrote, "I express anger in non-violent ways since I have been coming here." Another said, "I used to think I could never talk to an adult, or even like one. But here adults don't judge me. I have the freedom to be creative and don't feel like there's any wrong choices when I make my art." One boy living in a group home said “I learned that I can do more than I thought and I should never give up.”

There is increasing evidence that the seeds FutureSelf is planting are blooming - one recent participant is now at the School of Visual Arts in New York and another is getting a degree in fashion design at Adams State College. Still others succeed in graduating from high school, which is nothing short of a miracle for them. "I thought I already knew the healing powers of art first-hand since I'm an artist," Mike says. "But, as FutureSelf has grown, even I am amazed at how really transformative art and creative expression can be."

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