CITY @ PEACE

 

CITY @ PEACE, a program for teenagers in Santa Barbara County, was initiated in part as a response to the killing of a young man during a Fiesta celebration in the mid-nineties. Alarmed at the rise in gang violence in this otherwise idyllic mid-coast community, then-Mayor Hal Conklin called a meeting of concerned citizens at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. An overflow crowd, desperate for solutions, made plans to "do something" to stem the rising tide of violence among local youth. One of those responses was a new program for teens called CITY @ PEACE.

Modeled after a Washington, DC program, with advice and direction provided by its Director, Paul Griffin, CITY @ PEACE in Santa Barbara was launched in January of 1996 with support from the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, and the California Arts Council. The program later expanded to include Santa Barbara, Lompoc, and, just this fall, Isla Vista.

CITY @ PEACE brings together a diverse group of teenagers, aged 13 to 19, from all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds to promote peace and cross-cultural understanding through the performing arts. Led by professional artists, trained as mediators, these teens explore conflicts in their lives and use improvisational theater techniques to create original musical plays which are entirely written, produced and performed by the youth involved, based on their reallife conflicts. Through the collaboration with the professional artists (writers, actors, directors, visual artists, dancers, composers, musicians, poets), the teens grow in self-esteem and many become productive (rather than destructive) members of their communities. Their shows have been performed at local venues such as the Santa Barbara County Bowl and Center Stage Theater. They have traveled to retirement homes, schools, regional and state mediation conferences and even to Phoenix, Arizona, where Santa Barbara County youth presented a workshop at the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (NCPCR) in 1999. Their work and photographs appear in a text on conflict resolution in education which was published last year.

CITY @ PEACE utilizes theater and conflict resolution to educate and change teen behaviors in issues ranging from substance abuse and HIV to violence prevention. The program increases teens’ understanding of personal risk, and teaches its conflict resolution lessons in a way which teens enjoy and in which they can fully participate.

CITY @ PEACE youth have attended numerous theatrical productions both locally and in Los Angeles, traveled to many cities to present their programs, won an "Arts for Change" award from BRAVO, an "Indy" award from the Santa Barbara Independent for "Contributions to the Community," met the Dalai Lama at a peace conference in San Francisco, and appeared on national television. Last year, three young participants participated in a national competition for creative conflict resolution practices. They designed their own music program called "Harmony" to interest other youth in songwriting. They were invited to travel to Washington, D.C., attended a reception at the White House, and were awarded $8,000 to buy a piano and recording equipment to use in their project. These are but some of the life-changing experiences accumulated by the youth during the last five years.

Conflicts among the group are inevitable just as conflict is part of everyday life. At CITY @ PEACE, however, those in conflict are invited to mediate their dispute with either staff or youth mediators. They learn how to express their feeling in a way that is respectful of the other person, and to separate the "person from the problem". But it is in the working together to create an original work of art that the true transformative power of CITY @ PEACE lies. For more information, call Program Director Nancy Davis at (805) 963-6765, Ext. 2, or email us at sbcap@rain.org.