Rosa F. Keller Library TEEN VOLUNTEER DAY with Trinity City Arts

Event recap written by Kaylie Nhan; photos by Kaylie Nhan and Chloe Webster

---

As the sun was pouring in at the Rosa F. Keller Library this evening, middle and high school students from the New Orleans area were bustling with creativity as they were giving life to their own superheroes. This open workshop is one of many hosted by TCA that teaches and empowers youth to create art about social issues they care about, also known as artivism. 

Students learned how to be artivists and received guidance from local comic book writer Gabe Soria, who has written comics, games, and graphic novels for people of all ages. Alongside his own expertise and experience, Soria encouraged students to read books from the library for inspiration–one of the first steps to creating art is consuming it. The books contained topics ranging from free speech, the Civil Rights Movement, and Palestine. 

After taking in the comics and novels around them, the students overflowed with ideas and were eager to put them on the page in front of them. Each artist focused on creating a superhero in the city of New Orleans by drawing inspiration from the material in the session and their own lived experiences. A connecting thread between all the superheroes the students crafted is how they all exist within the natural world and borrow elements from it in their narratives. 

One high school student created Miss Moss, a hero transformed from a Spanish Moss tree who fights deforestation and combats climate issues in New Orleans. Her nemesis is humans who produce harmful and polluting chemicals. With nature by her side, Miss Moss’ superpowers include the ability to control sunlight and water to undo the damage done by humans. 

Miss Moss exists within the same world as Oak Fern, a hero created by a student from Ben Franklin High School. Oak gained their powers one day when they were hanging around a power line intertwined with an oak tree and got electrocuted. Since then, Oak has gained the power to communicate with other oak trees, so long as stinging caterpillars and diokophobia (the fear of being chased) does not get in their way.

A superhero created by another student is Gator Magician Guy–a regular, awkward magician by day who does tricks in the French Quarter, but also uses dark magic. He has sharp teeth and is characterized by the distinct gator hat he wears. This unassuming magician has the perfect guise and tricks up his sleeve no one would expect. 

Last but not least, another hero created is not human nor a direct superhero, but rather, a dragon anti-hero. Nightreaper is a black dragon who lives in the forest and can enter people’s sleep by walking into their dreams. Really, Nightreaper is misunderstood because he is just scared and seeking community in a place that is new to him. In addition, Nightreaper’s weakness is magic pineapples. 

Within the span of an hour, artivists were able to craft nuanced and rich characters. The workshop today ignited a spark in New Orleans youth to give them the platform and medium needed to think creatively about issues they care about.

Artivist sessions like this one will be part of the upcoming, expanded Artivist series this summer. Meals and transportation will be provided for the workshops, and there will also be a community showcase at the end. Find more info about our TEEN SUMMER CLUB here!