​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Phoenix Arts and Culture​​ Department

Rising Youth Theatre

​Rising Youth Theatre is a youth leadership organization working at the intersection of art and social justice. We believe that theatre andthe arts are powerful tools with which young people can stand up and advocate for themselves and their peers, and that artmaking and storytelling are a catalyst for change. Young people work in leadership spaces across all levels of our organization, including the staff, board, and creative spaces. We produce original plays around topics that matter to our community, including, race, mental health, student push-out, and more. Our school residency program brings social-emotional learning through the arts to hundreds of kids each year.

• Departments: Communications, Community Engagement, Education, Marketing, Operations,  Programming
  
• Art Forms: Art Education, Community Engagement, Performing Arts, Theatre
• Communities: Arab: Arab or Arab American, Latinx: Hispanic, Latino/a, Latin American, or Spanish-speaking, LGBTQ+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Two Spirit, and other identities, South Asian, Indigenous: American Indian, First Nations, Indigenous, Native, and tribes, Youth: Children, Teens, Young Adults, AAPI: Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander, Black: Black, African, or African American, Disabled: Developmental, Hearing, Mobility, Vision, etc, Low Income, Unsheltered.
  The demographics of our participants at every level reflects the perspectives of our community.  All of our programs are racially diverse and intergenerational. Our paid staff (10 people) is 50% youth and 73% people of color and our board (9 people) is 10% youth and 91% people of color.
  

Student workers will join the Rising Youth Theatre staff as a Journeying Artistic Collaborator - a core member of our small staff ensemble who works with the leadership team in support of the company’s mission and programing. This is a position that gives the Collaborator a chance to develop their own professional and personal goals while also advancing the goals of the organization in terms of bringing youth expertise and vision to the organization.

Journeying Artistic Collaborators (up to three) become members of the core staff team and work 10-20 hours/week. They will work alongside the leadership team, gaining expertise and providing support throughout the organization’s work in the community. Each Journeyer will select a specific focus area where they will prioritize work and learning with their peers and mentors. Potential focus areas include:

• Production 
• Teaching and Facilitation 
• Arts Management and Administration

In addition to work on their focus area, Journeyers will receive training and work alongside staff members in the following broader areas of work:

• ​Project Management 
• Producing 
• Program Design 
• Organizational Administration and Leadership

All staff members at Rising Youth Theatre participate in the following reflection and evaluation process:

• Personal and professional goal setting at the start of each fiscal year
• Whole organization goal setting at the start of each fiscal year
• Mid year evaluation with full staff team using critical response process
• End of year evaluation with full staff team using critical response process
• Monthly check ins with point person

Rising Youth Theatre is certified in the Critical Response Process, a method of giving and receiving feedback. Journeying Artistic Collaborators will receive formal training in this process, as well as in power sharing and Creative Youth Development practices that are core to the organization’s operation

Producing Artistic Collaborator Xanthia Walker

Rising Youth Theatre is deeply committed to youth leadership and hiring student workers is a core element of our practice. We have young people already on our staff who have been through multiple levels of mentorship through our program and this student worker program allows us to open up a new position with new learning and partnership opportunities for both us as an organization and for the individual student we hire. While we have had young people on our staff for a long time, this opportunity for a student worker allows us to formalize our process in a new way, paving the way for some really exciting growth as we formalize our youth employment programs. We would be thrilled to hire either two Journeying Artistic Collaborators through this program. We see this student worker becoming a meaningfully integrated part of our organization - having opportunities to learn from and connect with our ensemble, as well as taking on their own projects to focus on.  For me as a supervisor I am currently supervising multiple youth and adult artists and I am thrilled to use this opportunity as a chance to grow and learn as a supervisor and to learn from the young person we bring onto our team.​

Professional Biography

Xanthia Walker is an ensemble-based theatre artist, director, facilitator, creative strategist, and educator. She works locally, nationally, and internationally at the intersections of multigenerational collaboration, site-specific performance, justice, dialogue, and community. Xanthia is also a founding member of Las Fronterizas Ensemble, and certified facilitator of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process.

The Phoenix ArtCorps is a student employment program from the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture  that seeks to provide students with​ the comprehensive skills, mentorship, and experience ​they need to launch their arts and culture careers. Over the course of the 2024-2025 academic cycle​, each student works 400 hours for $17/hr (around 15 to 20 hours a week), with additional stipends and professional development opportunities. To apply, students must be current or recently graduated undergraduate students at a community college, university, or other institution of higher education based in Phoenix (or live in Phoenix themselves). Applicants must be at least 18 years old. There are no other enrollment requirements. Students do not need to be majoring in the arts or similar fields to apply. To learn more about the program and browse positions, visit our website at http://phoenix.gov/arts/artcorps​. ​​​​​​​​

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