My Role:
Director - I co-designed the entire six-week program structure with two other directors, including curriculum framework, staffing model, youth leadership roles, and training for both adult and youth staff. Personally managed logistics and outreach: created external communications documents, coordinated with Governors Island and Beam Center leadership, monitored budgets, scheduled and integrated visiting youth organizations, and planned the festival’s physical infrastructure, schedule, and partnerships. I also oversaw the adult staff team and checked in with youth informally throughout the program.

Program Description:
Beam Summer Studios is a six-week paid employment program for youth ages 16–21 that culminates in a public two-day cultural festival, the Otherworlds Fair, on Governors Island. Unlike previous summer festivals where teens delivered pre-designed workshops, participants this year created the entire festival themselves, developing large-scale showcase projects and designing workshops that translated their processes into public-facing activities. Over 60 youth, supported by 15 youth leaders and 5 adult staff, collaborated across discipline-based teams in fashion, food, music, dance, and design to produce performances, installations, and interactive workshops for hundreds of visitors.

Design Approach:
The director team designed Beam Summer Studios from the ground up to foreground youth leadership, creative expression, collaboration, teaching skills, and public exhibition. Each cultural team was structured with adult area specialists, youth leaders (1 project manager and 2 content mentors), and youth participants. Weekly cross-team “exchanges” and visiting youth organizations (e.g., Building Beats, Black Girls Sew, Collective Fare) created opportunities for knowledge-sharing and skill transfer. The program balanced open-ended youth-driven creativity with enough scaffolding through roles, timelines, and staff training to ensure the festival’s public readiness.

Implementation:

• Winter-Spring: Designed the program structure, interviewed and hired adult staff, and ran youth and staff trainings.

• Summer (July–August):

  • Teens worked in discipline-based teams to develop showcase projects and public workshops.

  • Weekly exchanges allowed teams and visiting youth organizations to share skills.

  • Directors and staff provided logistical, material, and leadership support.

• Culmination: Otherworlds Fair — a two-day festival featuring youth-designed showcases, interactive workshops, stage performances, and large-scale installations, with 300+ visitors.

Program Outcomes:

• 60+ NYC youth employed and paid through the Summer Youth Employment Program, supported by 15 youth leaders and 5 adult staff.

• Teens designed and delivered a public festival that featured performances, hands-on workshops, and large-scale projects.

• Youth leaders developed project management, teaching, and facilitation skills through defined leadership roles.

• Expanded partnerships by integrating visiting youth organizations into the program and festival.

• Marked a sea change for Beam’s summer programming, shifting from staff-designed activities to fully youth-designed projects and exhibitions. The program ran for a second year in 2025 and plans to continue with further iterations every summer.