Creative Arts Coordinator

YASP’s Creative Arts Coordinator supports creative programming and artistic projects at YASP. This includes coordinating and running weekly creative arts workshops with young people in the Philadelphia jails and at Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center (a juvenile detention facility). In addition, the Coordinator runs occasional creative arts workshops with YASP youth organizers and supports other YASP staff and volunteers in creative workshop plans and multimedia projects happening in the organization. This position communicates frequently with other staff about projects to make sure work benefits YASP’s larger goals. The position communicates with the Participatory Defense Hub around court support for workshop participants and with the Head of Visual Media around shared projects, such as supporting Video Team projects.

IMPORTANT: We are open to hiring one person to take on this role full-time (32 hours/week) or two part-time coordinators (20-25 hours/week). We will make this decision based on the applicant pool and interest level. When you apply, please indicate if you are seeking full-time employment only, part-time employment only or if you are open to either possibility.

Responsibilities

Creative Arts Workshops for Youth in Detention:

• Coordinate weekly workshops at MOD3 and the Juvenile Justice Service Center (JJSC)
• Invite guest speakers and workshop facilitators
• Support guest facilitators in the development of their workshop plans
• Create and maintain a workshop artist roster and workshop artist calendar
• Create and facilitate workshops on a semi-regular basis
• Purchase and maintain materials and MP3 player for the workshops
• Prepare for graduation/birthday celebrations of workshop participants
• Communicate with jail staff and social workers to confirm workshops, receive and print out memos for guests, and coordinate annual renewal of volunteer clearances and program memos
• Foster mentorship relationships with workshop participants
• Monitor conditions in the facilities
• Maintain regular communication with partner organizations that also provide workshops to young people in Philadelphia jails and JJSC

Youth Hub & Court Support

• Act as liaison between workshop participants and YASP’s Youth Participatory Defense Hub
• Communicate with Youth Hub about new participant information and family contacts
• Provide court support and court-watching for workshop participants
• Write letters of support for young people as they go to court
• Maintain communication with attorneys and families of young people in workshops
• To the extent possible, maintain contact with workshop participants when they are released or transferred to new facilities
• Attend Youth Participatory Defense Hub on a semi-regular basis
• Support Hub Video Team in the production of socio bio videos for workshop participants

YASP Creative Arts Workshops (outside detention facilities):

• Support YASP staff, fellows, and volunteers in developing and scheduling creative arts workshops in the office and community
• Help develop materials lists and logistic plans for workshops

Exhibitions/Events:

• Plan and organize events to highlight YASP’s newly released poetry & art anthology, “I Am Not a Number”
• Collaborate with other YASP staff to organize annual exhibitions of artwork created in JJSC/MOD3 workshops
• Collaborate with community partners on future YASP events
• Work with co-coordinator to distribute “I Am Not a Number” to incarcerated contributors
• Identify and coordinate with local bookshops to distribute “I Am Not a Number”

Organizing & Advocacy Support:

• Maintain communication and collaboration with YASP staff leading campaign work to end direct file, the practice of prosecuting children as adults
• As appropriate, connect workshop participants and family members to campaign work

Additional responsibilities:

• Support YASP youth fellows, youth organizers and interns on workshop development and facilitation and support for jail/JJSC workshops
• Maintain regularly scheduled check-ins with YASP Director and Head of Visual Media
• Track expenses and upload receipts on a timely basis
• Participate in all-staff meetings and team-building activities
• Additional responsibilities as assigned by the organization’s director

This position reports to YASP Director and works in close collaboration with the Head of Visual Media.

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Must have at least two years experience working with and teaching young people ages 13-17
• Strong work ethic, writing and communication skills and ability to follow through on responsibilities
• Experience working in a community-based setting
• Experience planning curriculum, developing individual and multi-workshops
• Flexibility with schedule and willingness to occasionally work evenings and weekends
• An understanding of the harms caused by mass incarceration and a commitment to ending mass incarceration and creating restorative, transformative responses to harm and violence
• Commitment to the principles of youth leadership and respect for young people’s voices and agency
• Proficiency with Google Drive and Google Workspace and/or willingness to learn
• Must have or be willing to immediately acquire all necessary clearances for entering detention facilities (Child Abuse clearance, PA state criminal background check and FBI clearance)
• Prior experience teaching youth in detention facilities a plus
• Personal experience navigating the carceral system a plus

Compensation

This may be a full time position or a part-time position. The starting full-time salary range is $48,000 to $50,000. YASP works a 32-hour, 4-day work week. Part-time would be 20-25 hours/week, dependent upon candidate availability. The starting part-time salary range is $27 to $30 per hour. Some evenings and weekends may be required.

YASP offers a workplace and benefits that are rooted in our values, with generous PTO, opportunities for training and professional development, collaborative decision making, and more. We offer full medical coverage with 10% employee contributions for staff who work 25 hours-plus per week, as well as matching 401(k) contributions up to 2% for all staff.