Recycled Treasures
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Yonkers Arts to Introduce Environmental Justice Education Through Art Programs for the Youth
(Yonkers, NY-February 2022) Yonkers Arts is launching an art program that aims to inspire the youth to become climate conscious by creating art with recycled items. “Recycled Treasures” is a youth based arts and crafts workshop focusing on environmental justice and sustainability facilitated by Katori Walker and Phylisha Villanueva; hosted by Yonkers Arts. The purpose of this workshop is to provide the resources and education via the arts for youth to become “climate conscious,” and ambassadors for climate change.
The youth will be engaged creatively by utilizing resources in-and-around the house, fostering problem-solving and critical thinking skills. “The ability to be able to identify art in our everyday surroundings is a skill we want our youth creatives to develop and will be one of the focal points for the workshop,” says Executive Director Ray Wilcox.
“Recycled Treasures,” encourages children to draw inspiration from their cultures, struggles, and environments. Participants are encouraged to exercise their creative minds while exploring the use of recycled items. Phylisha Villanueva, workshop facilitator believes, “Creating a safe space that fosters self-advocacy, and social awareness allows children to envision a life with a network of support and community.”
Through a series of workshops beginning in March, youth will participate in art challenges and discussions with industry experts ending with a cumulative final art exhibition. Katori Walker, who co-created the workshop says, “Using art as a catalyst to educate young people on environmental justice will empower them to develop critical thinking skills to build up confidence and competence in worldly issues using their expressions.”
The “Recycled Treasures” arts and crafts workshops will take place every Sunday at the Yonkers Arts Space, located at 216 Lake ave Yonkers, NY from 2pm-3:15pm with the exception of major holidays.
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About
Yonkers Arts was founded in 2007 by a collection of community leaders who perceived the need for an all encompassing arts organization for a city the size of Yonkers. The founding board was comprised of community leaders from across Yonkers. The mission of Yonkers Arts is to develop a strong, effective, and cooperative network of artists, cultural organizations, and members of the community to promote and encourage the arts in the City of Yonkers. For more information, please visit: www.yonkersarts.org
About Phylisha Villanueva
I believe poetry needs to be heard, felt, witnessed, alive in the room.
When I perform, I drop into the groove. My breath sets the tempo. My voice finds the pocket. I listen to the hush, the heartbeat, the shift in the room. There’s a call-and-response, even in silence. I riff. I ride the wave. I follow the feeling. It’s a conjuring improvised, unrepeatable, gone as soon as it lands. I want the audience to feel this alive connection, inspiring them to experience their own moments of spontaneous expression.
My work is improvisational, rooted in my time with the Jazz and Poetry Choir Collective. I came up in collaboration with musicians, with sound and rhythm, so my voice moves like an instrument. I bend lines, stretch time, syncopate meaning. No two performances are the same. Each one is bespoke, tuned to the moment’s frequency.
I write poetry, epistles, and slam pieces to cope with what needs holding. The spoken word is how I riot, how I rejoice, how I recharge. It’s percussion. It’s breath. It’s release.
Visual art spaces and ekphrastic writing taught me to see in layers—to hear color, to taste texture, to let images speak back. My work lives in that interplay. It’s sensory. It’s saturated. It’s in conversation. I hope this encourages the audience to see art as a shared space for healing and community building.
I write a poetic memoir that reflects and reimagines my community, its people, its needs, and its intersections. My work moves like a set building, breaking, and returning differently. It’s about transformation. About what becomes possible when truth is spoken out loud. I want the audience to feel inspired by the power of their own stories and voices to create change.
I teach writing as a tool for healing, for health, for abundance-sharing, specific practices to help you find your voice and trust its sound.
I don’t just write poems; I set a frequency that transforms the space. If you’re in the room, you’ll feel it-an experience of collective resonance and healing.