What It Means to Celebrate Creative Young People

Youth Arts Month 2026 | Star Blossom Life
Star Blossom Life Blog

Youth Arts Month · March 2026

Art
Matters.

Mikhayla Harrell Arts Education & Leadership March 2026

Every March, we get to pause and say — loudly and on purpose — that young people are artists, that their creative voices matter, and that this work is worth protecting. This year, that felt more true and more urgent than ever.

Youth Arts Month is one of those moments I look forward to every year. Not just because of the events and the recognition, but because of what it requires of us as arts advocates: to show up visibly, to say the thing out loud, and to make sure the young people doing this work know that we see them.

This March, I had the honor of being part of that in a few meaningful ways — and I want to share what this month held.

It started in Chicago.

In early March, I traveled to Chicago with the Louisiana Art Education Association for the National Art Education Association Convention — one of the largest gatherings of arts educators in the country. Walking into that space always does something to me. You’re surrounded by thousands of people who have chosen, on purpose, to dedicate their lives to making sure young people have access to creativity. That’s not nothing. That’s everything.

We went to build community, to sharpen our thinking, and to bring something home. And we did. I came back to Louisiana with more language for what I already believe, new connections with leaders doing extraordinary work across the country, and a renewed sense of why this advocacy work matters — especially right now.

Art education isn’t about producing artists. It’s about producing humans who know how to think, feel, question, and create. That’s the work. That’s always been the work.

Then Louisiana showed up for its young artists.

When I returned home, the rest of March unfolded in the most affirming way. Proclamations honoring Youth Arts Month were made across the state of Louisiana — official recognition from communities declaring that creativity is not peripheral to education. It is central to it.

That kind of public affirmation matters more than people realize. When a young artist sees their work acknowledged at that level — when a mayor or a school board or a state official puts their name on a document that says this matters — it changes something. It tells a kid: you belong in this conversation. Your vision has value here.

The Flag Contest: young artists making their mark.

Overall Winner 2026, Avery Marks, 6th Grade

One of the most exciting parts of this year’s Youth Arts Month celebration was the LAEA YAM Flag Contest — a statewide invitation for students to design a flag representing themselves and Louisiana’s creative youth. Simple concept. Powerful results.

The entries were stunning. I don’t use that word loosely. These young people brought intention, personal symbolism, and real artistic vision to their work. Choosing award recipients from among them was one of those beautiful, hard problems to have.

And now, we get to celebrate them in person.

Coming Up · Save the Date

Youth Arts Month Celebration & Awards Ceremony

Sunday, May 11, 2026
Louisiana State Capitol Museum · Baton Rouge, LA

YAM Flag Contest award recipients will be honored at the State Capitol Museum alongside an Arts Advocacy 101 training — because celebrating young artists and equipping their advocates go hand in hand. I hope you’ll join us.

Why I keep showing up for this work.

I’ve been in arts education for nearly two decades. I’ve worked in museums, in classrooms, in community spaces, and in statewide leadership. And the through-line in all of it — the thing that has never wavered — is this: when young people are given creative space and genuine affirmation, they rise.

They don’t just make beautiful things (though they do). They learn to trust their own instincts. Not only that, but they develop the capacity to sit with complexity, to find meaning in ambiguity, to communicate what words can’t hold. Those are life skills. Those are survival skills. And they are exactly what art education builds.

Youth Arts Month is our annual reminder to say that loudly and to mean it. This year, from the convention floor in Chicago to the proclamations across Louisiana to the flag contest entries waiting to be celebrated in Baton Rouge — I felt that meaning everywhere I looked.

I’m grateful to be doing this work. And I’m grateful for every educator, advocate, administrator, and young person who makes it worth doing.

With gratitude and intention,

Mikhayla Harrell