Youth Festival

The 1n10 suicide prevention project presents Sources of Strength: A Showcase of Music, Arts and Community.

By Glenn Gullickson

Suicide prevention campaign plans festival of music and art

Music and art will be the main attractions of a celebration targeting LGBT youth organized by a local suicide prevention campaign.

Sources of Strength: A Showcase of Music, Art and Community will be Oct. 7 at Civic Space Park in downtown Phoenix.

The four-hour event will feature performances by the local bands Super Stereo and Born Losers and the Hangers On (BLATHO). DJ Musa will also provide music and the YEP! Fusion Dance Team will perform.

The event is part of a campaign organized by Stacey Jay Cavaliere, suicide prevention coordinator at the 1n10 youth services agency. The local effort is based on the national Sources of Strength suicide prevention program, which puts an emphasis on healthy activities, Cavaliere said.

The celebration will also feature works of art created by 1n10 participants during the agency's weekly programs in Phoenix, Tempe and Glendale, as well as the Youth Empowerment House.

Art was also made at the recent OUTdoors gay camp, where more than 100 youth attended workshops in the Sources of Strength program, Cavaliere said.

Cavaliere said it's hoped that at least 50 works of art with the Sources of Strength program's themes of hope, health and strength will be on display at the Fair Trade Café adjacent to the park.

In a runway-style show, youth from the YEP! House will model Sources of Strength T-shirts they have designed.

Earlier this year, Cavaliere introduced In My Shoes, a campaign of suicide prevention messages promoting Q Line, a 24-hour crisis hotline and informational referral for LGBT youth and allies coordinated by Empact.

The celebration is coming as Cavaliere is releasing a new set of public service promotions, "My SOS," featuring community members and youth talking about their sources of strength.

The celebration is occurring during a First Friday art walk, and since Civic Space Park is located near the Grand Avenue and Roosevelt Row galleries, Cavaliere is hopeful that art walk participants will be attracted to the event. The Showcase also was to be promoted during Rainbows Festival and AIDS Walk Phoenix.

Cavaliere credited Michelle Ponce, of the Civic Space Park, for helping to organize the event. -E

VITAL STATISTICS
Sources of Strength: A Showcase of Music, Art and Community
6-10 p.m. Oct. 7
Civic Space Park
424 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
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