Today we’d like to introduce you to Serena Ray
Hi Serena, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As a high school student based in Austin TX, I created Austin Youth Gun Violence Awareness (Youth GVA for short) to be a source of expression, policy awareness and promotion of school safety for students across Austin and Texas alike. Originally inspired by a school project that I spearheaded during the legislative session a year post-Uvalde, Youth GVA was born out of a school walkout. Moved by the real action that joint student voices can promote, I decided to combine my longstanding interest in art with my interest in social justice and policy to truly create an impact on my community. The reality is that every student is affected in some way shape or form by gun violence. I have used my platform to focus on being a space for students and youth to create and post writings, artwork or other forms of expression that honor, highlight and bring light to the victims of firearm violence, and its overarching impact on youth. Since founding my organization in August of 2023, I have started my own campaign called “Teens Take on Policy”, spoken on meaningful webinars and forums to share my voice, helped work to organize Texas Advocacy Day, created an Art Advocacy gallery in my school district, and reached thousands of students. I am eager to continue to advocate for meaningful change and hope to shift the reality that has become everpresent among us.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Though I have largely been met with support in the gun violence prevention community, I have definitely faced some road bumps along the way. In being a loud and proud defender of common sense gun laws and spreading awareness for gun violence in a politically contentious state, opposing views are common. Some of my family members from different parts of Texas did not understand where I was coming from. I even heard viewpoints from other students who voiced that the issue I was fighting for “Wasn’t Even a Big Deal.” I have learned of the importance of balancing these differing perspectives while still holding long and hard onto the cause I fight for. As an advocate, there comes to be a middleground of nurturing yourself in a community of likeminded individuals while also understanding where the places of contention come from. Though it took time, by welcoming all perspectives, I believe that I have been able to stregthen my advocacy campaign.
Aside from dealing with differing perspectives, another thing that has been a challenge at times has been building up my organization. As a full time high school student involved in many things, starting my own organization from scratch was not an easy feat. There was website design, social media buildup, outreach, and even creating artworks on a manageable timeline that were all aspects I needed to stabalize. I quickly found however, that by grabbing on to mentors in many different areas of expertise, the work that seemed so daunting at first felt a lot more manegable to grasp.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Growing up, I have always been fascinated with art and its power to truly move audiences. Seeing influential artists like Frida Kahlo utilize their talents to point out issues of social justice, I was motivated to try my turn at doing the same upon founding an organization. In my experience, art has served as a safe haven for me and a place of expression even in moments of emotional distress. By sharing my artwork and motivating peers around me to do the same, I have hoped to be an open place for students to speak out, even if it is not as overt as doing something like organizing a protest.
In my artwork, I focus specifically on portraiture and surrealism blended with elements of color. My mediums of choice are often colored pencil, chalk, and oil pastel. In my artworks, I work to encapsulate the student voice, with some of my artworks taking on a poster-like style whereas others take on a more landscape composition. I work to implement various aspects of symbolism into my pieces, such as using orange flowers as a representation for survivors and referring to specific laws or targets. Every work I create has a specific message in mind and often encapsulates my student experience living alongside gun violence. In August of 2023, I was able to organize my own art gallery in my school district’s performing arts center, showcasing over 7 artworks, 5 of being my own. One of my pieces titled “No More Silence” has been sold in an art auction and has won a Gold Key Award at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. My goal is for every single one of my pieces to leave the audience with a message in mind. Whether they are motivated to question their own moral thread or take action to mold a new reality for youth, I have done my job if there is inquiry behind the works I create.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I feel that my creativity has been most instrumental to my success. By being able to think outside of the box and push my own limits as an artist, policy analyst, and organization founder, I have been able to reach limits that I never thought were possible. I have held true to myself that I would continue to push my way into the community, effort by effort. With every artwork I created and the social media campaign that I designed, I had the single desire to reach at least one student. Soon, I had reached almost 3,000. By using my creativity to pave my way, I have been able to reach many from my artworks, and even be news recognized. Most exciting to me, I was also invited to speak at the Capitol about my efforts, and I am now working to plan how I can bring artwork to the Texas Capitol on advocacy day. By holding the child-like belief that anything is possible, I have truly been able to reach farther boundaries than I might have thought possible, and I plan to continue to see how far this may take me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youthgva.com
- Instagram: @youth.gva
