Passionate about supporting and connecting artists from around the world, 16-year-old Edie Young founded We Are Artistic to do just that.
“Our mission is to support artists, artistic people and people who appreciate art,” Young said. “Many people don’t realize that people who appreciate art are also part of the community.”
Young and a couple of friends started the organization in 2019 through a Facebook group. Then, according to Young, the group expanded rapidly. Members now span the globe extending as far as Sri Lanka and India. Despite the distance, members stay close through virtual social hours, where they participate in karaoke, as well as an art share to get feedback and support.
The group holds multiple partnerships with outside organizations, such as Visionari Arts and the Graveyard Zine. Most recently, they worked with Cards for Hospitalized Kids, designing over 500 cards for hospitalized children.
They also had the opportunity to host the Cleverly Creative Camp from July 3-28, through their partnership with The Cleverly Creatives. The camp featured a week's worth of art workshops, which consisted of a “mini art lesson” over Zoom with one of their visual artists, contests and collaborations.
“We post something saying like ‘draw this image in your own style’ or ‘draw something with this theme,’” Young said. “It’s like we’re all making art together under the same thing.”
According to the website, We Are Artistic accepts multiple forms of art, including visual art, music, photography, creative writing, acting and memes.
“[We accept] any type of art a person is willing to share with us because we think everybody’s art is great,” Young said. “There’s no perfect artist.”
Contributions to the gallery can be submitted through the form listed on their website, or emailed to weareartisticgallery2@gmail.com.
Anyone can become a member of We Are Artistic through joining the Facebook group, Discord server, following the group on social media or attending events either virtually or in person. Membership is open to all ages.
We Are Artistic accepts volunteers of all ages and skill levels to assist in one of their five departments: visual arts, onboarding, social media, events, and the gallery and web department. All leadership is currently under the age of 25. There are also opportunities for D.C. public school students to earn community service hours. All interested volunteers can fill out the application form on their website.
This article was edited by Abigail Hatting, Jordan Young and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis.
