ArtLab Interns dye fabric to be sewn into “keeper dolls,” which house a secret inside from each young artist.

Creative self expression, a welcoming community, clinical therapy, wellness workshops, and more contribute to PlatteForum’s foundation of support for youth.

This April, PlatteForum was awarded a 2-year grant from Caring for Denver Foundation to continue providing critical mental health support for our ArtLab Youth Interns.

PlatteForum’s ArtLab program houses 50 youth Interns from across the Denver metro area. The program, now in its 17th year, has won numerous awards including “2023 Best Youth Arts Program” from Denver Westword, and a 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. ArtLab’s innovative model brings together youth and professional artists to create work meaningful to them and their communities, while learning creative career, academic, and social/emotional skills. Each youth is in the program for 1-4 years, and this long-form interaction is key to ArtLab’s success. Another essential component of the program is the wrap-around resources for youth Interns including: hourly stipends, tutoring, groceries, transportation assistance, arts and technology supplies, and mental health support.

Thanks to Caring for Denver’s generous funding in 2022, PlatteForum was able to grow the mental health support avenues offered to youth. The organization solidified 1-on-1 clinical therapy as an ongoing and free resource for youth. PlatteForum also embedded monthly Wellness Tools Workshops into ArtLab, taught by our trusted therapists. These workshops provide wellness skills and information, while also facilitating a space for youth to connect with and gain familiarity with the providers. Other activities to support youth mental health include outings to cultural institutions and community organizations with youth, physical wellness workshops, and support for youth-led community events addressing mental health.

Caring for Denver has also supported staff professional development, so that PlatteForum’s youth-serving staff may feel equipped and empowered to support ongoing youth mental health.

Since 2022, PlatteForum has seen great success from this project. 100% of youth Interns graduated high school in 2023. 100% of graduating youth interns engaged in a positive pathway to success post-graduation. 81% of youth who attended a wellness workshop last year, said they were 1.) able to recall learning a skill and 2.) were able to apply it to their everyday lives. Of clinical therapy, one youth said, “Every session is meaningful to me, especially the atmosphere created and the connection I have with the therapist. I’ve applied communication tips I’ve learned to my relationships in real life.”

Caring for Denver’s recent award to PlatteForum will allow us to continue this critical work impacting and improving the mental health of young artists and activists.

Read more about Caring for Denver Foundation’s recent awards to organizations like ours.