Pictures of teenage artists their lives – some adults do not want to see the full picture

“How does it seem to be a teenager now?”

This summer, teenage artists explore this question in two separate shows about their work: “Teenage experience,“Currently at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC, and at the Smithsonian Festival for Folk Life, where the subject of this year was” the subject of this year “Youth and the future of culture“

Either way, teenagers were informed of creating honest pictures of their lives and the issues they face, but they discovered that some people do not want to see the full picture.

Through paintings, graphics, mixed media and natural size installations, the artists filmed a set of subjects-self-suspicion, school closure, protests, living through a pandemic and learning to drive, among them.

The organization that connects these two events is Museum of contemporary American teenagers (MoCat), which does not contain its own material space but works with artists all over Washington, Maryland and Virginia.

The Maryland Secondary School Teacher David Luviliyato Muxe founded because he saw a vacuum: “Many of our cultural moments were somewhat by adolescents, yet we systematically ignore them.”

“The art is a safe place for our students to be themselves, and the newspapers.”

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was “the most amazing thing ever” and discontent

At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this year, high school students have created real time. Their area in the National Commercial Center included an installation of a school bathroom where anyone can write on kiosks and a portrayal depicting a set of issues “from the pressure of university admission to protests to dealing with the Koronaf virus in self -image.”

Duhri was one of the four artists who worked on a mural. She grew up as she visited Smithsonian museums and said that the opportunity to work with the popular life festival was “the most wonderful thing ever.”

The demonstrators in a mural keep reading, “The climate is changing, why are we not?” “There is no illegal person”, “Protection of children, not guns” and “free Palestine”.

Marie Beth Tinker was impressed when she saw the mural on her way to talk about freedom of expression. She said that she “encouraged the students because they were making this beautiful mural on the issues they were interested in. One of the issues that emerged was free Palestine. This is a problem that I care about.”

Tinker has a long history of calling for freedom of expression. In 1965, when she was an eighth grade student in Iowa, she and other students were suspended to wear black badges to school to protest against the Vietnam War. The accident led to the case of the Supreme Court Tinker V. MonksThe majority court ruled that students “do not submit their constitutional rights to freedom of expression or expression in the school gate.”

Tinker said she often tells students, “You can always be proud to talk about the things you really believe because this is a life of integrity.”

Smithsonian officials did not like

Flair Duhri said that one of Smithsonian employees approached her and other adolescent artists and told them that she believed that the slogan of “free Palestine” was hostile to Semitism and hatred. ” “We talked for three minutes and did not reach anywhere.” Duhriti said, as she told her that she did not agree.

“We went the next day and was completely covered in cannabis fabric,” said actress Lida Bilton, who is 18 years old, who has not yet ended from the mural around cars and the college acceptance.

Bilton said that Smithsonian officials told them that they were covering her because they were “afraid that someone was walking and seeing” Palestine free “on our mural, angering and hurting us. I am like,” maybe we are not the problem in this situation. “

“I do not understand why we who have to change our behavior because someone else decided that they were very angry at walking with something they did not agree with,” said Bilton.

When Tinker discovered what happened, I criticized the decision in A. video Posted on social media.

The founder of Motk David Lovilato said the accident was “conflicting.” At some point, he asked the students if they were ready to paint on the signs of protest.

He said, “I was trying to discover a solution.” “It is a solution to decline one step, cover the part that has become a problem, then everyone in the festival can see a mural for not seeing it at all.”

Smithsonian responds

“Smithsonian does not strengthen or support individual political statements. Thus, because Smithsonian has authority and final responsibility for its content, we decided to cover the mural.”

Murphy said that Motk would have received a language “about not promoting individual political statements and supporting” at the festival. Lopilato shared a Smithsonian letter with NPR saying the same, but dated July 4, two days after the festival started. Adolescent artists have told NPR that they do not remember that they were informed in advance that some language was limited.

Murphy said that the decision has nothing to do with political pressure or the executive order for the White House Claims Smithsonian “showcased an exciting ideology effect of sweat.”

But Tinker can only think about a connection.

She said: “The Palestine issue is one of the most controlled issues in schools at the present time, and in fact in the country, along with LGBTQ issues as well as race and racism.”

Tinker said that she is a long -standing fan of the Smithsonian Festival and the Follow -up Festival and does not want to see them “hurting in any way.”

However, she believes that people should have more attention to what teenagers say. “There is no wonder that throughout history, the youth were at the forefront to speak better and a better world,” Tinker said.

Adolescent artists want to complete the mural and show it

Artists Léda Pelton and Flair Doaherty hope to be able to recover the mural, which is currently stored in Smithsonian.

Bilton hopes that she and other artists can finish the mural and show it “completely achieved as a complete artwork.”

Doherty agrees, “There are many spaces where teenagers speak on In culture and a very small number of spaces where adolescents can actually express themselves. “

Murphy said that the mural technically belongs to the popular life festival. “Since we are not a collection unit in Smithsonian, we tend to re -display this type of things as materials instead of getting rid of them completely.” But he said he was open to discuss other options.

Copyright 2025, NPR