Heart of Art—Supporting Youth Artists

By Meghan Joy “MOJO” O’Keefe

This week, we launched our new program, ARTS BOP— providing Business of Arts information to emerging young adult artists in Amador County. However, before they reach adulthood, young creatives are students in our schools.

Despite well-documented facts that the arts are central to thriving economies, healthy individuals, and community cohesion, it remains a tall order to expect people to courageously support the artists among us. We tend to cling to lies that working artists are starving, that art is a childish career, that you aren’t a real artist unless you are rich and famous.

But at the County Arts Councils, we are teams of people who are emphatically unwilling to ignore the data around the impacts of the arts. We are people who walk the walk and are committed to bringing information to youth artists. We are here to ensure that young, emerging talent has the information they need to make educated and empowered decisions about their careers in the arts.

Thanks in part to our partnership with Create CA (our partner since 2012), Amador County Arts Council (Amador Arts) is hosting ARTS PARTIES in teen art classrooms at campuses throughout Amador County. In collaboration with classroom teachers, these short parties take place at lunchtime and offer young artists of all disciplines an opportunity to collect rad art stickers, receive free art markers, talk to real working artists, learn about arts volunteer opportunities, and discover an array of careers in the arts.  

If you know an artsy teen who wants one of these ARTS PARTIES on their campus, please get in touch with yours truly at the Amador Arts at (209) 256-8166 or info@amadorarts.org.

We are committed to providing resources, opportunities, and professional development to all people who are called to work as artists.

Amador Arts has been the designated State-Local Partner for Amador County since 1982 and works to advance arts, culture, and creativity for all people by providing resources, opportunities, and Professional Development. 501c3 #94-2811333.

This article was published in the Ledger Dispatch newspaper on October 24, 2025.