PIE's 2020 Artist-in-Residence program (AIR) kicked off this past January, but was cut short as schools across the country closed due to COVID-19. Prior to the crisis, we partnered with educators at Burton International Middle School, University Prep Art and Design and Alternatives for Girls. Teaching artist Cyrah Dardas worked with middle school youth to explore the theme of learning environments. Although AIR programming has paused, we continue to glean insight from Cyrah and her work with young people. As such, we’re excited to share an interview we conducted with her just before the crisis.
Click the audio player below to hear Cyrah’s story of what happens when you “ask the questions that kids actually want to answer.”
Read a transcript of the interview here.
cyrah’s major keys
COVID-19 and its implications for schooling and learning push us to re-examine the purpose of education now more than ever. Simultaneously, families, students and educators are adjusting in real time to distance learning. With that in mind, we have contextualized the take-a-ways from our conversation with Cyrah that are particularly poignant in this moment.
Click the image to check them out >>
More about cyrah
When Cyrah isn’t working with PIE, she’s creating visual art, curating art spaces and community organizing. She says her current focus is on connecting people physically and metaphysically.
“I'm interested in a collective consciousness,” she says. “And so I feel like because I have experienced something and I feel something, you have experienced it [...] so it's like being able to breathe and bridge connections between people.”
Cyrah’s personal art practice and her work with young people often connect. Recently, she created a zine, “Practices in Adult Allyship,” inspired by the global youth leaders addressing climate change.
“All of these social justice movements are essentially led by young people. And so for us to get out of our own way so that these young people can save [us], we need to start more intentionally practicing adult allyship.”