Youth Voices for Vision Zero SF

Youth Voices for Vision Zero SF
By Christine Osorio

Starting in the month of February, Muni buses and transit shelters will feature youth artwork illustrating Vision Zero traffic safety messages. The students are part of Youth Art Exchange (YAX), an arts-education non-profit based whose mission is to support San Francisco’s public high school students in becoming leaders, thinkers, and artists by sharing creative practices with professional artists. As part of Supervisor Norman Yee’s District 7 participatory budget process, YAX students consulted with SFMTA staff to develop traffic safety messages and artwork that reflect their experiences around traffic safety.

Themes highlighted through Youth Voices for Vision Zero SF include general traffic safety such as:

Yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
Slowing down.
Understanding that traffic deaths are preventable.
Watching for people biking.
Not blocking the sidewalk with a scooter.

The student artwork also included Covid-specific safety messaging to wear a mask while riding Muni.

Using street signs as inspiration, the students worked with mediums including hand-carved block prints, cyanotype (a printing process that uses light to create a cyan blue color, while areas that do not receive light remain white), and digital illustrations to create the final compositions.

YAX focuses on serving youth of color and low-income youth, and is rooted in the Excelsior neighborhood, which has a high concentration of high schools and the largest population of teenagers in the city. Because [x]space (Youth Art Exchange’s public arts hub) is within walking distance of high schools, and many of the students walk, bike and take Muni to [x]space to attend after-school programs, the students are uniquely positioned to speak about their experiences and insights regarding walking and biking.

Given the limitations of after-school program closures due to Covid-19, Youth Art Exchange closed its in-person activities and pivoted to digital programming in 2020. Youth artists worked remotely and collaboratively, meeting weekly to develop and design this body of artwork around the theme of traffic safety.

Spot these Youth Voices? Post a photo and tag @youthartx, @VisionZeroSF, #YouthVoicesforVisionZero

Artwork by youth with safety messages

Artwork by:

Jodi, Abraham Lincoln High School

Hannah MacDonald, Lowell High School

Casey Tang, Abraham Lincoln High School

Published February 24, 2021 at 02:50AM
https://ift.tt/3smXIwA

Comments

Celebrating the life and legacy of Harvey Milk

Celebrating the life and legacy of Harvey Milk By Sophia Scherr Today we celebrate and remember the life of San Francisco LGBTQ+ advocate and icon, Harvey Milk. One of our city’s most revered politicians, Milk's legacy as the first openly gay San Francisco supervisor and elected official in California helped in breaking down discriminatory barriers and usher LGBTQ+ politicians in government positions. Milk also advocated for equitable transportation, as he rode Muni exclusively since he did not own a car. He was a firm believer that affordable mobility was important in creating a thriving and livable city. Below is Harvey Milk with Curtis E. Green, General Manager of the Municipal Railway promoting Muni’s “Fast Pass”. Mr. Green was a barrier-breaking figure in his own right, by becoming the first African American appointed to Muni's top position from his beginnings with the Agency as a bus operator. With his 1974 appointment, Green also became the first African American to ...

By The Numbers: The SFMTA’s COVID-19 Response

By The Numbers: The SFMTA’s COVID-19 Response By Erica Kato The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unforeseen c hanges to San Francisco’s transportation network. And the impact of the crisis will continue to be felt city-wide long beyond the end of the public health emergency. On March 13, 2020, when it became clear that San Francisco needed immediate adjustments to the transportation system, Director of Transportation Jeff Tumlin launched SFMTA’s Department Operations Center (DOC) team. Since then, the DOC has served as a centralized hub to ensure that we are minimizing health risks to employees and the public as we keep transportation running, both by coordinating internally within the agency and by collaborating closely with our city, state, and federal partners to deploy resources and information in the most effective way possible. San Francisco's response to the COVID-19 pandemic included implementing temporary emergency transit lanes Our COVID-19 response has chal...

Everyday Heroes: Taxi Driver Corey Lamb

Everyday Heroes: Taxi Driver Corey Lamb By Sarah Hellman Corey Lamb shown without his face mask for the purposes of this photo only. Corey Lamb is a veteran taxi driver with over 10 years of experience, and one of our unsung heroes. Corey provides at least 50 trips each month to wheelchair users who are unable to use Muni's accessible but regular fixed-route service. And during the shelter in place order, he has been actively transporting patients to needed medical appointments — patients like San Francisco resident Amelia Sison. Lamb is representative of the many taxi drivers who are working hard during this health emergency to serve the needs of our most vulnerable residents who need to take trips for essential services. For Sison, Lamb is her lifeline to the community. Since her necessary medical treatments began last year, Lamb has been her regular taxi driver, transporting her at least three times a week to and from appointments. Awarded the 2019 Sys...

BE HEALTHY

Search This Blog