NextGen Creators – Youth & Family Gathering (presented as part of Suncoast Remake Learning Days) | Saturday, April 26, 1-5 p.m. | Free
REGISTER HERE!
Join us for NextGen Creators, an interactive gathering designed to nurture youth development and foster intergenerational connections through the arts.
As part of Mosaic Movements’ Creative Nexus initiative, this immersive event invites young artists ages 13-24 and their families to engage in hands-on workshops led by professional artists, explore creative career pathways, and connect across artistic disciplines.
In partnership with WSLR+Fogartyville and Emerge Sarasota, the day will culminate in a Youth Performance Showcase, celebrating artistic growth, collaboration, and innovation.
SCHEDULE:
- 1:00 – 1:25 PM | Welcome & Icebreaker
- 1:30 – 2:30 PM | Workshop Session 1 (Choose 1 of the 3 available workshops)
- Rhythm and Rhyme with Karim Manning
- Future Visions: Dreaming in Color, Drawing Beyond Now with Osa Atoe
- Cuttin Up: Textiles and Technology Workshop with Jevon Brown and Amaya Glover
- Act Like You Mean It: An Improvisation Workshop with Maria Schaedler-Luera
2:30 – 2:40 PM | Snack Break & Networking
- 2:45 – 3:45 PM | Workshop Session 2 (Choose 1 of the 4 available workshops)
- Future Visions: Dreaming in Color, Drawing Beyond Now with Osa Atoe
- Rhythm and Rhyme with Karim Manning
- Cuttin Up: Textiles and Technology Workshop with Jevon Brown and Amaya Glover
- Finding Your Voice Spoken Word Workshop with Poet Sun, Love, Peace
- 3:50 – 4:30 PM | Youth Performances & Showcase
- 4:30 – 5pm | Closing & Celebration
Workshop Descriptions:
Title: Rhythm and Rhyme – Available Sessions 1 & 2
Facilitator: Karim Manning
Description: Students will learn the basics of Rhythm and how to count, move, and speak to a steady beat, by participating through different games and activities. They will then write and perform their own written lyrics over a beat.
Karim Manning Bio: As a self-taught Emcee, Producer, Human Beatboxer, DJ Karim has provided a space for expression and acceptance through the love of Hip-Hop music from 2017-2022. In 2021 he started teaching workshops on “Rhythm and Rhyme Across the Curriculum” in public classrooms working with elementary to middle school kids. He is currently a teaching artist working with Pre-K to Middle school-aged students teaching music-based workshops, through the performing arts foundation as well as through the USF REACH grant.
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Title: Cuttin Up: Textiles and Technology Workshop – Available Sessions 1 & 2
Facilitators: Jevon Brown and Amaya Glover
Description: This workshop will include two unique and engaging experiences led by Amaya and Jevon. You’ll be rotating between their stations, spending 30 minutes at each, so you’ll have a chance to explore both creative avenues.
First, you’ll join Jevon and journey into the rich history of textiles and community. The social fabric of the neighborhood is preserved through stunning fabrics in the “Cuttin’ Up” exhibition. Each tapestry is imbued with affirmations collected from local salons and barbershops. You’ll have the opportunity to create your own fabric and paper weavings, weaving together elements to craft a barbershop or salon-themed piece. We will use scissors, paper, and glue to bring these stories to life.”
At Amaya’s Sound Station you’ll explore the fascinating technology behind the “Cuttin’ Up” Exhibit. You’ll get hands-on experience with the Playtronica Playtron MIDI Controller, a tool that lets you turn everyday objects into musical instruments. You’ll be creating your own songs using pre-selected packs of drum and melody loops from various BIPOC musical genres. This is a chance to experiment, have fun, and express yourself through music, and even take home a track you created.
Artist Bios:
Jevon Brown, a Miami-based multidisciplinary artist, holds a BFA in Textiles from RISD. His work, rooted in his Bahamian, Jamaican, and Black Southern heritage, explores identity, community, and belonging. Brown crafts immersive spaces that intertwine sensation, memory, and untold histories, focusing on Black masculine kindred spaces. Utilizing textiles, fashion, painting, and photography, he recontextualizes cultural icons, weaving narratives of his diasporas. Artist Website: https://jevonbrown.art/
Amaya C. Glover, a Sarasota and Tennessee based Audio Engineer, holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Audio Production from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). She combines her experiences working as a sound technician at West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, an Assistant Engineer at Drummerboy Entertainment & Recording Studios, her education at MTSU, and her current audio visual engineering position with Tequila Cowboy Restaurant Group to provide stellar high quality audio visual experiences. Using this experience and knowledge she started her Audio Visual Production Company, ACG Productions LLC in February of 2024.
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Title: “Act Like You Mean It”: An Improvisation Workshop – (Available Session 1 only)
Facilitator: Maria Schaedler-Luera
Description: This 60-minute workshop invites youth to step into the present and claim their role as the protagonist of their own story. Through fast-paced improv games, movement, and playful reflection, participants will build self-awareness, confidence, and creative courage. Inspired by Theatre of the Oppressed and short-form improv, this session is all about saying yes to who you are—right here, right now.
Bio: Maria Schaedler-Luera is a Brazilian-born teaching artist, facilitator, and co-founder of Atomica Arts. With roots in Theatre of the Oppressed and a deep commitment to mindfulness and holistic education, Maria blends improv, movement, and cross-cultural dialogue to support participants in stepping into their power. Her work centers on self-awareness, creative expression, mental health, and the belief that everyone can be the protagonist of their own story. https://about.me/schaedlerluera
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Title: Future Visions: Dreaming in Color, Drawing Beyond Now-Available Session 1 & 2
Facilitator: Osa Atoe
Description: What do you think the future looks like—and how can art help us shape it? In this hands-on, youth-centered workshop, we’ll explore how artists have imagined futures rooted in freedom, transformation, and Black imagination. From historical visionaries to contemporary Afrofuturist creators, we’ll look at how art can serve as a powerful tool for change and dreaming.
Using markers, paint, collage, and big ideas, we’ll work together to create a collective mural that maps our hopes, questions, and visions for the world to come. No art experience needed—just your imagination and your voice. Let’s dream out loud and draw what we want to see.
Bio: Osa Atoe (Ah-toy) is a Nigerian-American ceramicist living in Sarasota, Florida.
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Title: Poetry in Motion Workshop: Available Session 2 only
Facilitator: Sun, Love, Peace
Description: Learn to express yourself through spoken word integrated with movement. Create your own personal short spoken word piece and infuse your poem with movement. This art form provides an opportunity for self-expression, release and inspiration. Through the integration of spoken word and movement we will create an experience that helps us to articulate our inner feelings and to promote healing through movement.
Artists Bio: Michelle Walker also known as Sun Love Peace, originally from Windsor, CT. She is a dancer, dance teacher, inspirational leader, choreographer, spoken word artist, motivation/inspiration facilitator, and empowerment coach with over 25 years of experience in inspirational movement, dance and empowerment coaching.
NextGen Creators is presented as part of Suncoast Remake Learning Days.