Youth Interactive

Thank you to everyone who came out to the 23rd Annual Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Holiday Marketplace in support of Youth Interactive 

We would especially like to thank the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden for holding this event and allowing us to participate in it. Until next year!

Mark your calendars: Youth Interactive will be selling goods at the 23rd annual Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Holiday Marketplace, November 18-20 from 10:00am-4:00pm!

After a long week full of emotions, a silver lining has presented itself at Youth Interactive's doorstep.

We noticed something interesting about our bench outside of our center early Friday afternoon. Given the recent ending of the election, we assumed it was someone just leaving something nice on our bench. Within a few hours, we heard someone outside discussing the piece, so we walked out to find the artist of this surprise art piece. Naturally, we asked her what her inspiration was and she told us she wanted to take something that is rarely paid attention to (our bench) and cover it in fingerprints to make up the American flag. Her reasoning was our finger prints make up our identities and those ultimately make this country what it is. The hearts represent how this is a time for all of us to love one another. This piece of art is her catharsis, a great project for her schoolwork, and an impactful message to the community!

Youth Interactive is proud and honored to have been selected to receive the Invest in Youth grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation! This type of grant is the first of its kind from the Santa Barbara Foundation, totaling $455,000 given out to 20 nonprofit organizations. We were one of those 20 selected amongst 45 other great, youth-oriented organizations applying from around Santa Barbara County.

"Grants, which range from $8,000 to $30,000, were awarded to successful and established youth-development organizations that expand opportunities for personal growth and leadership, support the development of life skills, and improve social and mental well-being of youth." — Jordan Killebrew for Santa Barbara Foundation.

Hello all! 

We hope you are well and that you have had a great start to the fall! As you know, we decided to keep our doors at Youth Interactive closed this fall as we we work out a few kinks before officially reopening in January 2017. 

BUT WE HAVE GREAT NEWS!! 

To continue our initiative in helping local youth, we have decided to reopen Youth Interactive this fall for FREE tutoring and civic help, exclusively on Wednesdays and Fridays from 12-6pm! First come, first serve and anyone can apply! 

We would like to thank everyone who came out to support the unveiling of our “Postcards of Santa Barbara” event last weekend! If you missed out, feel free to check out our series of murals down on the corner of Calle Cesar Chavez and Cabrillo. They will be on display for public viewing for the next three years! 

Further thanks to John Palminteri for hosting our celebration and to our speakers: Mayor Helene Schneider / Sarah York Rubin / Ashley Parker / David Diamant and Matt Rodriguez who spoke on the behalf of all the artists. We could not have done it without all of you!

In partnership with Youth Interactive, VADA, and the Arts Fund, Los Angeles based artist Tofer Chin worked with Youth Interactive students to beautify the SILO in Santa Barbara, CA. We would like to thank the MESA LANE PARTNERS for generously funding this project as it would not have been possible without it.

Video of the project coming soon!

Youth Interactive's Unveiling of the Postcards of Santa Barbara is this Saturday at 1:00pm on the corner of East Cabrillo Boulevard & N. Calle Cesar Chavez, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

Thanks to the generosity of our Mayor Helene Schneider and the Fess Parker Family, Youth Interactive was able to revive the community success “Postcards of Santa Barbara” exhibition, beautifying parts of the construction zone lining our world-famous waterfront. You won't want to miss this community resurrection of this exciting project and the ever-vibrant city of Santa Barbara! Come celebrate with us on the corner of East Cabrillo Boulevard & N. Calle Cesar Chavez, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

Thanks to the generosity of our Mayor Helene Schneider and the Fess Parker Family, Youth Interactive was able to revive the community success “Postcards of Santa Barbara” exhibition, beautifying parts of the construction zone lining our world-famous waterfront. 

This project also worked to encourage and empower local youths. All murals were created by young, local artists from the Youth Interactive center located on 209 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Established local artists also participated, which created mentorship opportunities for the younger artists.

Please join Youth Interactive and the rest of the community in celebrating the resurrection of this exciting project and the ever-vibrant city of Santa Barbara! 

Cost: Free and open to all members of the community

When: Saturday, October 8

Time: 1:00pm

Where: Corner of East Cabrillo Boulevard & N. Calle Cesar Chavez, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

This Youth Interactive Mural unveiling is co-organized by Robert F. Adams. John Palminteri will be your host, refreshments will be provided by Fess Parker, fabulous music by Gil Cruz, and entertainment by the talented Teresa Kuskey Nowak and The La Boheme dancers. 

Each month, Youth Interactive usually shows our appreciation to one young entrepreneur that went above and beyond in their work by awarding them Student of the Month. This month, however, the Student of the Month award goes to TWO amazing students – Kristina Fishbach and Karim Cortez. They have both been such amazing students that we just couldn't decide!!

Kristina is a senior in high school, and has been a member of our Peer Pressure team for 3 years now! She has definitely proved to be an extremely hardworking and talented designer in her time here at YI!

Karim is also a senior in high school, and has been with our Creative Studio team for the past year! He is such a creative and amazing artists, it has been such a pleasure working with him this year at YI!

We sat both Kristina and Karim down to ask them a few questions to get to know each of these superstars a little better:

What has been your favorite moment at Youth Interactive?

Kristina: “Meeting the people and being in a safe environment”

Karim: "The environment - I just like being here because the environment is so nice, creative, and full of different inspiration"

Why is Youth Interactive special to you?

Kristina: “It’s like a home to me.”

Karim: "The people! YI is full of different people bringing in totally different ideas and creativity. It's so nice collaborating with other people here."

What has been your favorite part of working with each of your teams?

Kristina: “Having fun and making new bags" (Her favorite bag to make is a coin purse!)

Karim: "Having fun with them!"

What do you like to do in your free time?

Kristina: “Be with friends, go to the pool or the beach”

Karim: "Sleep, read articles on random things (like pie!"

What are your plans for next year?

Kristina: “I want to major in video production at the City College next year”

We are just two days away from our Spring Art Show! We are so excited for our students to showcase the amazing pieces that they have been working so hard on all semester, and even more excited to share these works with you all!

In addition to amazing art, the show will also feature tasty food and drinks from local Santa Barbara vendors and fantastic live music by David Courtenay & the Castawaves! And if that isn’t enough, there will also be a Mystery Box fundraiser, with fantastic surprise goodies from brands like Patagonia, Channel Island Surfboards, and Blue Planet Eyewear for you to bid on!

Stop by Youth Interactive (209 Anacapa St.) this Friday, May 27th, between 5pm and 8pm to support our amazing young artists, win Mystery Box prizes, and enjoy the spirit of the Funk Zone with local food, drinks, and music! We cannot wait to see you all there!

Youth Interactive is so excited to announce that our amazing young artists, William Hurtado and Trevor Coopersmith, will be participating in this year’s LIVE Art & Wine Tour!

The tour is this Thursday, May 26th, from 5:30p to 10:30p in downtown Santa Barbara, and will feature amazing artists, great food and drinks, a silent auction, and a raffle. William, Trevor, and numerous other artists will create pieces to be auctioned off that night, with all proceeds supporting public art installations in Santa Barbara. To see our young artists’ amazing at the event, Trevor and William will be doing LIVE art from 5:30 to 7:30p on the grass by the Faulkner Gallery.

The final countdown to our Spring Art Show is here! We are so excited for this event, and even more excited to be able to share it with all of you.

The show not only features amazing art works created by local students, but it also serves as a fundraiser for Youth Interactive’s amazing youth-led businesses in order to help make these enriching programs possible. In addition to great art, live music, and tasty food, the Spring Art Show will feature a Mystery Box Fundraiser that is open for everyone to participate in. With boxes filled with surprise goodies from around Santa Barbara, you will definitely not want to miss your chance to participate in this!

We want to congratulate Nathalie Gensac, the incredible founder of Youth interactive, for being awarded with the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award this past weekend! On May 6th, more than 300 people attended the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony to support all of the amazing women entrepreneurs in Santa Barbara. Nathalie was just one of the 70 outstanding nominees for this award. Her dedication to the youth in Santa Barbara and her passion for helping others helped earn her a spot amongst the 11 winners.

 The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award Foundation recognizes the amazing work done by women entrepreneurs in the Santa Barbara County. Their mission is to “support entrepreneurship at all levels.” Just finishing their 6th year, the Spirit of Entrepreneurship will continue to highlight all of the amazing women in our community by looking at a wide array of categories each year. These categories of awards include: Agriculture/wineries, Emerging Business (1-3 yrs old), Green/Social Entrepreneur, Health, Hospitality/tourism, Media/Communication, Nonprofit Organizations, Professional Services, Retail, Science/Technology, and Wholesale/Manufacturing/Global Trade.

 We are so impressed with the dedication and hard work Nathalie has put into Youth Interactive. Without her, these students would most likely not have a place to learn necessary business skills and have a place to creatively express themselves. Youth Interactive is a unique place, and thanks to Nathalie these students have a second home. Congratulations to Nathalie and all of the other amazing, deserving women honored by the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation!

We want to congratulate Nathalie Gensac, the incredible founder of Youth interactive, for being awarded with the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award this past weekend! On May 6th, more than 300 people attended the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony to support all of the amazing women entrepreneurs in Santa Barbara. Nathalie was just one of the 70 outstanding nominees for this award. Her dedication to the youth in Santa Barbara and her passion for helping others helped earn her a spot amongst the 11 winners.

  The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award Foundation recognizes the amazing work done by women entrepreneurs in the Santa Barbara County. Their mission is to “support entrepreneurship at all levels.” Just finishing their 6th year, the Spirit of Entrepreneurship will continue to highlight all of the amazing women in our community by looking at a wide array of categories each year. These categories of awards include: Agriculture/wineries, Emerging Business (1-3 yrs old), Green/Social Entrepreneur, Health, Hospitality/tourism, Media/Communication, Nonprofit Organizations, Professional Services, Retail, Science/Technology, and Wholesale/Manufacturing/Global Trade.

 We are so impressed with the dedication and hard work Nathalie has put into Youth Interactive. Without her, these students would most likely not have a place to learn necessary business skills and have a place to creatively express themselves. Youth Interactive is a unique place, and thanks to Nathalie these students have a second home. Congratulations to Nathalie and all of the other amazing, deserving women honored by the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation!