( ENSPIRE Community Spotlight ) The founder of the Art Prevails Project Speaks About its Dedication to Underserved Youth in South Florida
ENSPIRE Contributor: Joaquin Fernandez
Darius Daughtry is a well-accomplished writer and educator who founded the Art Prevails Project in 2015. He created the organization as a socially impactful way of educating the arts in underserved youth throughout South Florida. Their mission is to make art as accessible, enlightening, and inspirational as possible to anyone. The Art Prevails Project, since 2015, has expedited art and poetry classes to over 1500 South Florida students, performed at over 60 community events, staged 20 original theater productions, and provided artistic platforms to many rising artists. Newly innovative programs like Speak Your Peace and Write It Out are being utilized to improve youths’ public speaking and literary skills. Speak Your Peace is a theater residency where students can perform original pieces. Write It Out is a 10-week writer-in-residence program to teach students poetry and creative writing.
Daughtry sees the organization as a flourishing platform for young artists ready to express themselves. He spent 10 years as a middle school English teacher, helping to integrate creative arts into the standard curriculum. Poetry and Hip Hop were primary inspirations Daughtry introduced in his classroom. He continued to create numerous after-school programs for refugee-seeking kids. Daughtry was a program director for nonprofit organizations before he founded the Art Prevails Project.
What inspired you to start the Art Prevails Project over a decade ago?
The Art Prevails Project was founded out of my awareness of the transformative power of the arts. I saw this unfold in my life at an early age. At the age of eight, a teacher put a pad and pen in my hands when she saw that I needed a place to express some complex emotions. Writing created a space for me to grow and learn about myself and life.
Fast forward to my time as a public school educator. Working with students who needed the same outlet I did at their age, I began incorporating artistic expression into my lessons. I saw how life-changing these experiences were for my students, so I dove in headfirst.
Over the years, I developed more arts programming for the schools where I taught. I saw how these programs not only impacted my students but were transformational for the school and the community. While I was excited about what was happening in my building, I knew that there were students all around who didn’t have access to these kinds of programs. I knew that arts programs were being systematically cut from many schools, especially those in historically marginalized communities.
Why shouldn’t every child (and adult) have the opportunity at the fullness of life that the arts bring?
Out of that question, the Art Prevails Project was born. We seek to cultivate and empower communities by providing equitable access to arts programming and education because we know it can change and save lives.
When you were young, what motivated you to express yourself artistically?
Pain, reticence, and my mother. When I was younger, I needed somewhere to put my complex emotions. Though my mother poured love into me daily, I felt the pain of an absent father. Once I was offered writing as an outlet, things began to change.
Even though my initial writing was just raw emotion, it began to morph into something more. Being exposed to Hip Hop helped me to connect what I was doing to the power that language has to shift and transform lives.
How do you use poetry for self-expression in your everyday life and for the Art Prevails Project?
Writing is a part of my daily practice. I’m always writing, even when I’m not writing. The first thing I do in the morning is open my notebook and try to recall my dreams.
Art Prevails Project elevates the power of poetry in multiple manners. We facilitate poetry writing workshops for youth and adults in schools and multiple community spaces. Our students get the opportunity to see that they can create beautiful poetry, even when they doubt their abilities. We also host gatherings that promote poetry’s power. Our open mics, artist showcase, and literary festival all shine a light on what poetry can do for individuals and communities.
Also, poetry is everywhere. Poetry is in the way you describe a delicious meal someone cooked for you – you put your foot in this. Poetry is in how you view your daily commute – this traffic is a beast.
In some form or fashion, we are all using poetic devices. Through my artistic practice and the work done with Art Prevails Project, I want everyone to know that their stories are valid and powerful. And if they come out in the form of a poem, they’re just a little bit cooler.
What hopeful moments or stories did you come across during your time as an English teacher?
The story that sticks out the most is from my first year of teaching. I entered the classroom after years in a corporate career. To inspire and motivate young minds was exciting; however, they had differing ideas.
I was teaching 7th-grade reading. All of the students were reading at 1st and 2nd-grade levels. Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me. The last thing these students wanted to do was anything I asked them to do. In search of a solution, I began bringing music and poetry into class instead of the prescribed curriculum. From there on, things changed. They became more engaged and eventually began writing poems and songs, as well as improving their reading.
At the end of the year, a young lady who had given me so much trouble earlier in the year came to me with tears in her eyes. She thanked me for being patient with her and for opening up a new world to her. That moment still gives me hope.
How has the Art Prevails Project helped impact the artistic opportunities for students around South Florida?
Art Prevails Project works diligently to provide students throughout South Florida with opportunities to engage with and experience the arts. We have various programs in schools, parks, community centers, detention facilities and more. Over the years we have seen hundreds of students find their voices through our programming.
Interestingly enough, it is rarely about students becoming professional artists, though some do. It is really about giving space for young people to find their voice and discover tools that will be useful throughout the rest of their lives.
Through our programming, students have been able to see versions of themselves and their stories on stages. They’ve seen their words published in books. And their work has been highlighted by media and local leaders.
Can you further explain the programs Speak Your Peace and Write It Out?
Countless studies have shown that exposure to the arts has a direct positive impact on the overall well-being and academic performance of students. Our arts education programming is rooted in giving students the space and opportunity for self-expression. We believe in making sure our arts education programs ensure that the students are at the center of the experience.
With Speak Your Peace, a devised theatre program, students explore issues that affect and are important to them. We help guide them through the process of taking those experiences and turning them into performance pieces that are reflective of who they are and what they have to say. Through an extended residency program, professional theatre artists help students craft original narratives that make their way onto the stage.
Our Write it Out program pairs a poet-educator with a class of students for a 10-week residency. Throughout the ten weeks, students deepen their knowledge of tools to authentically and creatively express themselves. At the end of the residency, students’ poems are printed and published in a chapbook for them to have. That means that they are published poets as early as in the third grade. Seeing their words in print helps them see the limitless possibilities that await them.
Do mentorship and education play an essential role in shaping these students’ well-being and future beyond the classroom?
Mentorship and education are key. As a life long educator, it is of the utmost importance that students understand the importance of education. We want to ensure that students have access to learning opportunities in all facets of their lives. That’s where mentorship comes in. Our teaching artists serve as mentors, not only in the realm of artistry, but in the overall growth of the students.
Mentorship is cyclical. I had a few amazing mentors in my life. Those experiences led me to being a mentor to some amazing young people. Now, many of those mentees are paying it forward to impact the young people we work with today.
What do you hope to see out of the Art Prevails Project in the future?
My vision is for the Art Prevails Project to continue to grow while impacting students and communities. I want it to be a name that immediately comes to mind when anyone thinks about impactful arts education in South Florida and beyond. I am excited to see how we evolve and how we can stretch our tentacles to ensure that everyone everywhere can reach their full potential through access to the arts.
Darius Daughtry’s Art Prevails Project is an innovative organization with many opportunities and resources to teach underserved youth throughout South Florida. Programs like Speak Your Peace and Write It Out offer unique communication and writing for students to dive into. Daughtry created the organization as an encompassing platform for artists to learn and express themselves in numerous ways. He used the time spent as an educator to blend mentorship and artistic expression into something profound. Daughtry has worked as a poet, writer, director, and playwright to help these students achieve their creative dreams.
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