National YA Week 2026: YALA Celebrates Growth for Learning, Advocacy, and Community Engagement
As we celebrate National Young Audiences Arts for Learning Week (YA Week) from March 29 to April 11, 2026, we reflect on a whirlwind of activity that captured the hearts and minds of our staff, board, and teaching artists. This journey took us from schoolyards in Jefferson and Orleans Parish to the marble halls of Capitol Hill, and now brings us back to New Orleans and to the vibrant creative energy of our upcoming YALA Art Live fundraiser.
Students from West Jefferson High School Brass Band Perform at YALA Grow Together Fest.
YALA’s first annual Grow Together Fest serves as a metaphor for the current momentum of Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA). Just as a garden requires intentional soil preparation, dedicated tending, and the right environment to flourish, our organization is moving at the local, state, and national levels to ensure that arts for learning, community engagement, and advocacy are deeply rooted in the lives of our youth.
From the Grassroots: YALA Grow Together Fest
The inaugural YALA Grow Together Fest, the brainchild of Suzanne Blaum, YALA’s Director of Extended Learning, was designed to bring art to the forefront of community wellness. Research consistently highlights the benefits of artistic expression for maintaining the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.
Resource table at YALA Grow Together Fest Lincoln Elementary School for the Arts.
The festival blossomed across two Saturdays in March, on the 14th hosted by Lincoln Elementary School for the Arts followed by an event on the 21st at YACS Lawrence D. Crocker Elementary School. The latter was a collaborative effort with The Links, Incorporated Black Family Wellness Expo 2026, a free event focused on health at every stage of life.
“YALA's first Grow Together Fest was a vibrant mix of creative and engaging activities and resources,” Suzanne noted.
Student at YALA Grow Together Fest at The Links Incorporated Black Family Wellness Expo.
And it’s true! At Lincoln Elementary School for the Arts, attendees experienced a four-hour "family energizer" that blended live performances from the West Jefferson High School Brass Band and Watotos African Dance with vital community resources and wonderful food from Touch of Love. From Hancock Whitney and Inclusive Care to the Jefferson Parish Public Library, the fest provided a one-stop-shop for financial, physical, and educational health, all rooted in the joyful soil of the arts.
According to the organizers of the event, our collaboration with The Links, Incorporated at their Lawrence D. Crocker Elementary School event addressed wellness less as a kind of crisis with more emphasis on prevention and engagement with the arts for this purpose. At YALA, we believe in starting with art, regardless of the activity, and especially where wellness is concerned, so this turned out to be a great match up for YALA and The Links!
To the Capitol: Advocacy as Growth
Just as the Grow Together Fest concluded, YALA transitioned from the grassroots to the national stage. A YALA delegation of staff, board members, and teaching artists traveled to Washington, D.C., for the 2026 Young Audiences National Arts in Education Conference. This was not just a meeting of minds; it was a "wellness check" on our collective impact and a chance to advocate for federal support of the arts.
The perspectives from those on the ground in D.C. illustrate the shift from local practice to national policy: Jenny James, one of YALA’s Co-Executive Directors, found her perspective shifting toward the long-term necessity of political engagement.
YALA Staff Kelly White and Ja’nese Brooks-Galathe present at the YA National Conference 2026.
“The biggest shift for me was around how much more advocacy work I would like to continue to do,” Jenny shared.
Representing both YALA and the National Executive Directors Council, Jenny is now focused on bringing legislators directly into YALA programs to witness the talent of New Orleans youth firsthand.
Reneen Benson, YALA’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, experienced an "historic" moment of accessibility. “I learned that our leaders are a lot more accessible than I once conceived.”
After learning that affiliate members were able to visit nearly 90 different congressional offices as part of the YA network, Renee returned with a mission to be more vigilant in visiting leaders not just in D.C., but in Baton Rouge and locally in Jefferson Parish. She noted that many offices are actively seeking the type of innovative programming YALA provides, particularly as they look for entries for the Congressional Arts Competition.
YALA Education Programs Manager Kristin Morrell, a third timer at the conference, found inspiration in the intersection of art and the future.
Jenny James, Renee Benson, Ja’nese Brooks-Galathe, David Falk (YA National Director of Advancement), Dr. Karen Brooks Favorite (YALA Board Member), Richard Bates, Marguerite Moisio (YALA Board Member), and Ali Cantino (YALA Board Chair) at YA National Conference 2026.
“Art can serve as a tool to develop intrinsic motivation in an era where kids have the ability to outsource their thinking,” Kris noted. “And once again I was delighted with the environment, content of the sessions and the opportunity to connect with so many like minded artist educators and advocates who love to share in this work! The Young Audiences National Community is really unlike anything else in this space.”
Kris’s personal mission centers “a lot around access and arts for children with special needs and she adds, “it is delightful to talk to Credentialed Teaching Artists (CTA’s) like Joseph Dixon or Chris Espinosa who share a similar passion for accessibility in art spaces!”
To the Professional Stage: YALA Art Live
Our upcoming signature fundraising event: YALA Art Live. Scheduled for Sunday, April 12, at Urban South Brewery, this live painting fundraiser is the final piece of the advocacy puzzle. It turns the "theory" of arts education into a public, professional reality.
As Jenny James explains, "YALA Art Live creates a reciprocal relationship wherein students are able to interact with our broader community through the arts, and the community becomes aware of the talent and potential that exists in our New Orleans youth".
“I’ve been producing YALA art live since 2019 and boy has it grown. With the addition of “extras” like facepainting and Baby ArtsPlay!™ we have been able to attract a whole new segment of our followers. ”
Erin Stover, YALA Director of Development loves witnessing the student/artist “collaborative magic”. “Watching these young students meet their partner-mentors only once and then creating these beautiful pieces together really is magical.”
“I’ve been producing YALA art live since 2019 and boy has it grown. With the addition of “extras” like facepainting and Baby ArtsPlay!™ we have been able to attract a whole new segment of our followers. People are coming to the event who have never been, and then coming back!”
And, this event isn't just a fundraiser. It is a manifestation of everything we advocated for in D.C. When a student stands next to a professional artist of high caliber, they realize they have the tools to navigate any professional space.
Alina Allen and Sophie Bui at YALA Art Live 2025
By pairing students from schools like YACS Burmaster High School, Lincoln Elementary School for the Arts, and West Jefferson High School with professional artists like Bianca Walker, Heather Mattingly and Alina Allen, we bridge the gap between "hobby" and "career."
The Harvest: National YA Week
National YA Week was first championed by Leonard Bernstein in 1971 to celebrate the impact of the arts on the development of the next generation. Today, YALA carries that legacy forward.
Whether we are hosting a family wellness event, presenting action research in D.C., or facilitating a live-painting collaboration, our goal remains the same: to ensure the arts are recognized as an essential foundation for learning.
From the grassroots of the Grow Together Fest to the halls of the Capitol, and onto the stage at YALA Art Live, we are proving that when you plant seeds of creativity, the entire community flourishes. We invite you to add your voice to the celebration this week. Follow us at #YAweek and help us keep the arts in bloom.
There’s still time to participate in #YAweek 2026! One way to support arts education is by sharing why the arts matter in your community, and by encouraging your elected officials to champion #artsined. Find your elected officials here: www.usa.gov/elected-officials