Create Now Honored by the
British Council and Volunteer Service Organization

Create Now is thrilled that our Founder and Executive Director Jill Gurr was one of the first four Americans selected by the British Council (a 75 year old agency) and Volunteer Service Organization (VSO) to participate in their first-ever multilateral Global Xchange, which connected youth and community activists from six countries: South Africa, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, UK France and USA. Jill spent three weeks from January 17 - February 6, 2010 in Durban, South Africa where she collaborated with other leaders to exchange best practices . They explored cross-cultural approaches to serving at-risk youth.

From March 6-28, 2010, they all traveled to Belfast to spend three more weeks together working on community projects. Read more about this exciting project through the Global XChange Blog.

Click here to read Jill's blog.

Featured Articles

Jill's Experience in South Africa
Jill's Experience in Belfast

For Global Xchange, Jill was partnered with Rafiki Callixte from Rwanda, whose specialty is engaging Hutu and Tutsi youth in conflict resolution exercises that bring former enemies together to ease their discord.

During the Global Xchange journey, Rafiki and Jill worked with street children in South Africa and also Protestant and Catholic rivals in North Ireland to provide support and guidance to the youth and their caretakers, and to learn from them, as well. It became even more evident that the arts are a powerful tool for resolving conflict, uniting former enemies and healing emotional scars.

As a result, Arts xChange is a new program that Create Now has initiated, thanks to a generous grant from USA for Africa. Here are the highlights:

Goal: Our objective is to offer 32 participants (16 from Rwanda and 16 from Los Angeles) the opportunity to create intercultural dialogue about challenges they face as they create artwork that follows two themes: (1) Overcoming Violence and Poverty, and (2) Creating Reconciliation and Acceptance, through participation in two international visual arts exhibitions.

Partners: Spark For Change, a non-profit organization in Kigali that helps Rwandan youth, and Unity One, a prominent gang intervention program in Los Angeles.

Program: Our 12-week workshop will bring together groups of youth (Hutus and Tutsis in Africa with Bloods and Crips in the U.S.) so they can share their personal stories, challenges and ideas. Create Now will provide them with curriculum developed with the Western Justice Center, and materials and tools to reflect and focus on specific themes related to conflict resolution, peer mediation and restorative justice, with the goal of overcoming violence, poverty and building peace. We will teach them how to release those feelings through positive artistic expression in drawings, paintings, sculptures and behind-the-scenes videos that communicate an uplifting perspective with creative solutions for the concerns that are raised.

Art Exhibitions: Fine arts experts in Kigali and Los Angeles will provide positive critique for the artists in each city. Prizes will be given to everyone and the artwork from all of the participants will be exhibited in both countries, including the Timothy Yarger Fine Art Gallery in Beverly Hills. Expansion in 2012 will include more youth from Africa and the U.S., with a culminating exhibition at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

We are in need of computers, arts supplies and prizes for the youth. If you would like to contribute or want additional information about Arts xChange, please contact Jill Gurr at: (213) 747-2777 x 211 or email: jill@createnow.org.