November 13th 2023.
Ruth E. Carter, the acclaimed costume designer and two-time Oscar winner for her work on Black Panther and its sequel, is teaming up with the Boys and Girls Club of America to champion multicultural artists.
Carter, the first Black woman to win multiple Oscars for her creative work, is using her celebrity power to advocate for young, diverse artists. As a BGCA alumnus, Carter understands the importance of the club and the access it provides to inner-city youth.
“It’s been an enriching experience for me to connect with the youth of the year, to connect with young talent like Langston here,” Carter said in an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE.
She was joined by Langston Howard, a current BGCA member and fashion designer, as part of a virtual AR experience created by Chips Ahoy! in partnership with Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The experience is a response to the fact that only 15% of creative work in museums is made by artists of color even though 48% of teens identify as persons of color.
Carter is looking to change this and knows that the first step is to support the next generation of diverse artists.
“Because they’re not at museums doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. They exist. And we know them,” Carter said. “We know them in our classrooms, in our communities, and through our life experiences. It’s now a part of the initiative to highlight those artists that are less visible.”
Through the AR experience, artwork from eight aspiring multicultural artists, including teens from Boys & Girls Clubs, can be viewed and interacted with from any smartphone. Each time their art is viewed, Chips Ahoy! donates $1 to fund arts programming, which supports multicultural creativity.
For Howard, the experience has been a life-changing one. “They have put me in positions that have allowed me to meet new people and get connection with new people and that pretty much just it allows you to build in and just grow as a whole,” he said.
The virtual experience can be accessed here, and includes art from eight teens from across the U.S. With Ruth E. Carter and the Boys and Girls Club of America joining forces, young, multicultural artists are being seen and heard in new and innovative ways.
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