08/24/2026
Congratulations! 🎉
Four Fairhope High School students - Ainsley Cook, Dessa Fitzgerald, Jean Pearson, and Sadie Slay - have been selected as
founding members of Alabama's new statewide Youth Arts Collective (YAC). The four are part of a 15-student inaugural cohort representing communities across Alabama.
The founding members gathered in Montgomery on August 22 for YAC's first statewide kickoff, where students met their fellow cohort members and mentors, participated in advocacy and leadership development, and began shaping the work of the new organization. Jean Pearson was elected the inaugural YAC President, while Ainsley Cook was selected as Regional Representative Chair.
The Youth Arts Collective was created by Amp Up Arts to give Alabama students a meaningful role in conversations about arts education and to prepare young people to advocate for arts learning in their schools and communities. "Students are not simply participants in our education system. They are stakeholders in it," said Ashley Lucier, Executive Director of Amp Up Arts. "
The Youth Arts Collective gives students a structure for bringing their own experiences, ideas, and priorities into conversations about the future of arts education. As members of our Founding Cohort, these students will also help shape what this initiative becomes for the students who come after them."
Throughout the 2026-2027 school year, YAC members will participate in statewide meetings, leadership and advocacy development, committee work, and student-led projects. They will connect with students and leaders from communities across Alabama while working to increase awareness of the importance of equitable access to arts education.
The development of YAC has also been selected for presentation at the 2026 Arts Education Partnership Annual Convening, where Amp Up Arts will share Alabama's new student advocacy model with arts and education leaders from across the country.
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