Creative Fields has been designed for youth with neurodiverse mental health or learning needs, or trauma and stressor-related disorders like:

• ADHD

• Complex PTSD or PTSD

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Depression or Anxiety

**More info further down on this page

We do accept "neurotypical” teens and young adults, but will consider these youth after ensuring we’ve made space for neurodiverse youth first.

Youth participants must be between the ages of 14 and 19 to participate.This means they must be within the age range in September of the year they begin. 

Youth are mentored by working artists and introduced to new artmaking methods and materials. Through the program, participants gain valuable arts career experience, and form both professional relationships with artists and friendships with other teens and young adults. 

During the Phase 1 Workshops, youth attend Open Studios with our mentor teacher, Kimberly Zzyzx and attend hands-on workshops at artist’s studios all around the high desert to learn about how artists make their living, and experiment hands-on with their artistic medium or practice.

Youth participants will get PAID for this portion of Creative Fields, $100 per workshop series. Think of it as an informal internship.

For the final eight weeks, youth begin Phase 2 Studio Collaboration, and develop individual or group projects with the support of Teaching Artists in our Twentynine Palms classroom, ending with a public exhibition in June!

Creative Fields is a 30-week program that runs from the end of September to the beginning of June.

We meet on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30 to 5:30pm. 

You can see all the dates for the entire year on our Google Calendar here. 

Teaching Artists will give lectures that increase youth’s awareness of arts-based career pathways and avenues of income available to working artists. 

Arts-based careers offer some of the most impactful return on investment, both financially and through their impact on positive mental health outcomes. Youth’s ability to access creative careers with this potential for financial mobility depends heavily on the pathways and networks available to them early on. The lack of visible career pathways in the arts has placed many creative careers out of reach for youth without financial and class privilege. 

Youth participants will learn how professional networks are used to connect with arts work opportunities and become familiar with professional expectations in creative work environments. During Reflection Sessions, youth will develop resources for future employment, and write resumés and letters of interest that highlight their skills.

Creative Fields is offered free of charge, through the generosity of the Dale and Edna Walsh Foundation, and the California Arts Council, a state agency. To learn more, visit arts.ca.gov.

We understand that getting around can be a challenge in the high desert, especially if parents or caregivers are working and youth are without alternate transportation. Creative Fields provides free door-to-door transportation for all participants who need it, and free pickups at three central locations along highway 62 for participants who don’t need transportation, but want to join the vanpool (it saves gas, emissions, and as it turns out.. is a lot of fun.)