Youth Art Connection
Fulton County
63 Auburn Avenue NE
Atlanta , Georgia 30303
404.614.6233
Map, Driving Directions

Hours of Operation

  • Programs Activities: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Brief History

Youth Art Connection (YAC) uses the arts as a means to connect with underserved children and teens in Atlanta, Georgia. As a program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, YAC utilizes the arts to address issues related to youth culture and collaborates with multiple sectors of the community to provide innovative and challenging cultural enrichment programs for young people.

From 5,000 square feet of gallery space in downtown Atlanta, YAC annually serves more than 8,000 kids, ranging in age from 6 to 18. Throughout the year, numerous youth exhibits are displayed in the gallery, and all are open free to the public.

YAC endeavors to assist youth in understanding themselves and their world while exploring individual creativity and self expression. Artist-driven programs play a major role, engaging national and regional artists in projects that challenge both the artists and their young collaborators. Each year, YAC hosts a variety of programs and workshops in many media ranging from fine arts to photography to creative writing to digital creations.

YAC is also home to International PaintPals (IPP), a program originally created in former President Jimmy Carter's The Atlanta Project. Over the last ten years, IPP has organized numerous major exhibitions for the Olympic Games in both Atlanta and Greece, the United Nations, UNICEF, the Goodwill Games, the Admiralty in St. Petersburg, Russia, and more. With over 100,000 young people from more than 55 countries on 6 continents, IPP continues to grow and expand the international reach of YAC. IPP will organize an exhibit in conjunction with the Beijing Youth Federation to open in June 2008 in celebration of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Staff

Rebecca DesMarais, Arts & Cultural Enrichment Director
rdesmarais@bgcma.org

Programs & Activities

  • Arts & Cultural Enrichment

Map

Membership

If you’re interested in membership at the Youth Art Connection or any of our Metro Atlanta clubs, please download the membership application. Then, complete and return the application to the club.

Volunteer Opportunities

If you are sincerely interested in inspiring, motivating, and impacting young lives, then Boys & Girls Clubs is the place for you! Depending on the specific club location, we offer volunteer opportunities in the areas of tutoring, mentoring, coaching, special events, programming assistance, administrative support, and more. We are currently seeking volunteers for our summer camp session which runs June 7th – July 31st.  

Click here to see a listing of current volunteer opportunities. In order to become a volunteer you must:

1)       Be at least 16 years of age
2)       Complete a Volunteer application
3)       Pass the required background check

You will be notified once your background check is cleared and will then be scheduled for a club orientation before officially becoming a volunteer.

* We understand that some high schools require students to complete a minimum number of community service hours for graduation.  We do offer some limited volunteer opportunities for students who are interested in performing their service with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.  For more information on these opportunities send a request to rreid@bgcma.org.

Check out Club Blue, BGCMA's Young Professional Group of volunteers. Learn more about Club Blue and how to become involved.

If you have any questions, please contact Robin Reid, our Volunteer Manager at rreid@bgcma.org