Lauren: Celebrating Art & Culture

I organized a Cultural Celebration with the Seattle Theatre Group (STG) in early fall. We had over 60 attendees from the community, including participants from the Refugee Women’s Alliance’s after school program, community leaders and organizers, Somali Community Services Coalition’s own youth program participants, and the general community. STG brought a number of African dancers to engage with the community in a dialogue about art and cultural identity. The purpose of the celebration was to start introducing appropriate forms of art (that are respectful of Islam) to the community to start breaking down the stereotypes of art and teach what it can do for the individual and the community.