SAY Sí ignites the creative power of young people as forces of positive change. We value artists, empower marginalized communities and advance culture.
As a leading creative youth development organization, SAY Sí is committed to creating a premier, inclusive, dynamic, and nurturing educational environment for San Antonio’s youth through:
- Creativity
- Leadership
- Equity
- Community
At SAY Sí, we extend our reach into various communities through our ABC (Artists Building Communities) program. Working with our network of alumni and contracted teaching artists, SAY Sí aims to reach different populations with creative development work, arts and cultural experiences, and training opportunities.
Now, as we have shifted our focus to virtual learning, you can experience the magic of SAY Sí virtually through ABC Art Studio Anywhere. Through this virtual learning hub, you can make the world your art studio with tutorials, art challenges and more!
ALAS, SAY Sí’s theatre program, provides students interested in the performing arts with opportunities to develop their skills in acting, directing, playwriting, technical theatre and stage management. Committed to the creation of new and original performance work by, for, and about San Antonio youth, ALAS challenges students to draw from their own experiences, observations, and insights to produce theatre of relevance to their lives and their communities.
ALAS operates as a collaborative ensemble known as the ALAS Youth Theatre Company. In the company, every student’s talent is valued and essential. Students have ownership over their theatrical work, and a voice in the artistic, technical, and creative decisions involved in every aspect of the production process.
Emphasizing leadership skills and civic engagement, ALAS aims to empower youth to create work that addresses community needs and concerns, challenges prejudices and social injustice, and celebrates diversity and difference.
This program is for students in grades 6-11.
Student Requirements:
- Parental/guardian permission
- Reliable transportation to and from SAY Sí
- A minimum C average in school
- Commitment to attending the program weekly
- Commitment to attending the program year-round
- Commitment to completing all SAY Sí projects in a timely manner while acting as a positive influence in the studios
- Current enrollment in middle school or high school (public, private, or home school)
How to Apply:
- Read ALL SAY Sí Student Requirements above
- Read SAY Sí Program Descriptions. High school applicants will choose one program to potentially join. Middle School WAM Applicants can indicate their top two choices, but acceptance into those options will be based on availability.
- Visit our application page and fill out the SAY Sí Application Form. All applications must be submitted digitally.
- SAY Sí staff will review all applicants and contact eligible candidates to schedule an in-person interview.
- Students will be notified of the decision via email and letter after interviews have been completed and all applicants have been reviewed.
- After your interview, acceptance or deferral letters will be sent by mail.
- All accepted students and parents will be contacted to attend a MANDATORY new student/parent orientation in order to officially join SAY Sí.
- Click here to apply
Free
Beyond SAY Sí’s on-site year-round, long-term youth programs, we extend our reach through community-based programming. Working with our network of alumni and contracted teaching artists, SAY Sí aims to reach different populations with creative development work, arts and cultural experiences and training opportunities.
SAY Sí’s Artists Building Communities [ABC] means to broaden the idea of what art is, what art can be and how we engage with art in our everyday lives. By creating accessible positive arts and cultural experiences for all populations of students, their families, and the adults who serve them SAY Sí builds a broader and stronger community for the arts.
There are several ways SAY Sí works with community partners, professional, youth groups and the public:
• Creative Youth Development Programs & Partnership – Arts education via workshops and youth-focused events
• SAY Sí Field Trips – Tours & Workshops – Free and fee-based experiences available for groups of all ages
• pARTicipate – Tuition Based Camps & Events – Summer camps for elementary and middle school ages; fun adult art events
• Company & Org. Team Building/Retreats/Staff Activities – Let us help you get creative with your staff experiences
• Professional Development – Teacher, Youth Practitioners – Training in CYD, Youth Voice, Social Justice, Medium-based etc.
To request a partnership with our ABC [Artists Building Communities] Program, call or email contact info.
| Monday: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM |
| Tuesday: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM |
| Wednesday: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM |
| Thursday: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM |
| Friday: CLOSED |
| Saturday: CLOSED |
| Sunday: CLOSED |
SAY Sí’s Media Arts Studio is a creative innovative technology-based learning program that provides a hands-on focus on filmmaking and photography. Throughout the year, SAY Sí students, along with the help of professional staff and established professionals in the media industry, collaborate and produce short films and documentaries. Students have the opportunity to explore and utilize their talents in all phases of the production, from writing the screenplay, scouting film locations, directing or budgeting, to casting, editing, creating an original musical score or working collaboratively on lighting production. Once the film is produced, the students also work on the accompanying marketing of their work in addition to showcasing their movies’ premieres.
This program is for students in grades 6-11.
Student Requirements:
• Parental/guardian permission
• Reliable transportation to and from SAY Sí
• A minimum C average in school
• Commitment to attending the program weekly
• Commitment to attending the program year-round
• Commitment to completing all SAY Sí projects in a timely manner while acting as a positive influence in the studios
• Current enrollment in middle school or high school (public, private or home school)
How to Apply:
• Read ALL SAY Sí Student Requirements above
• Read SAY Sí Program Descriptions. High school applicants will choose one program to potentially join. Middle School WAM Applicants can indicate their top two choices, but acceptance into those options will be based on availability.
• Visit our application page and fill out the SAY Sí Application Form. All applications must be submitted digitally.
• SAY Sí staff will review all applicants, and eligible candidates will participate in an interview. • • SAY Sí will contact eligible candidates to schedule an in-person interview.
• Students will be notified of the decision via email and letter after interviews have been completed and all applicants have been reviewed.
• After your interview, acceptance or deferral letters will be sent by mail. All accepted students and parents will be required to attend a new student/parent orientation in order to officially join SAY Sí. Orientation is MANDATORY.
Click here to apply
Free
WAM, SAY Sí’s multidisciplinary middle school program, is a year-round Saturday program in visual arts, theatre, media arts and new media. SAY Sí employs its junior and senior high school students to work as student instructors, allowing for reciprocally beneficial peer-to-peer mentoring.
Classes take place each Saturday throughout the calendar year and focus on long-term individual achievement and skills enhancement. The mentoring between our high school and middle school students is a unique aspect to this program. It gives middle school students the opportunity to learn from some of our advanced high school students and it gives our high school students real-world job skills and experience. Students in this program work on projects that develop cognitive skills, including; problem solving, reasoning, and decision-making as well as interpersonal skills such as oral communication, teamwork and self-fulfillment.
This program is for students in grades 6-8.
Student Requirements:
• Parental/guardian permission
• Reliable transportation to and from SAY Sí
• A minimum C average in school
• Commitment to attending the program weekly
• Commitment to attending the program year-round
• Commitment to completing all SAY Sí projects in a timely manner while acting as a positive influence in the studios
• Current enrollment in middle school or high school (public, private or home school)
How to Apply:
• Read ALL SAY Sí Student Requirements above
• Read SAY Sí Program Descriptions. High school applicants will choose one program to potentially join. Middle School WAM Applicants can indicate their top two choices, but acceptance into those options will be based on availability.
• Visit our application page and fill out the SAY Sí Application Form. All applications must be submitted digitally.
• SAY Sí staff will review all applicants, and eligible candidates will participate in an interview. • • SAY Sí will contact eligible candidates to schedule an in-person interview.
• Students will be notified of the decision via email and letter after interviews have been completed and all applicants have been reviewed.
• After your interview, acceptance or deferral letters will be sent by mail. All accepted students and parents will be required to attend a new student/parent orientation in order to officially join SAY Sí. Orientation is MANDATORY.
Click here to apply
Free
The HIVE is the youngest and second-largest SAY Sí studio. There student-artists focus on digital arts, comics, animation, creative coding, game design, new media, transmedia, interactivity, and storytelling through systems.
HIVE challenges youth to think about interactivity, analyze art and new media critically and decide when working collaboratively or working independently are the best modes for getting their ideas across. Students explore new kinds of media and intersections of different media and make anything that they need computers to produce or experience.
In the HIVE students:
- design characters
- make comics and animations
- write interactive fiction (choose your adventures)
- design books, card games, and board games
- program big games in Unity3D
- program small games in PICO-8
- make procedural art in Processing (processing.org)
- build augmented reality apps, Kinect games, and interactive installations
- map projections on things
- record podcasts and sound art
- make digital paintings and stickers and papercrafts
This program is for students in grades 6-11.
Student Requirements:
• Parental/guardian permission
• Reliable transportation to and from SAY Sí
• A minimum C average in school
• Commitment to attending the program weekly
• Commitment to attending the program year-round
• Commitment to completing all SAY Sí projects in a timely manner while acting as a positive influence in the studios
• Current enrollment in middle school or high school (public, private or home school)
How to Apply:
• Read ALL SAY Sí Student Requirements above
• Read SAY Sí Program Descriptions. High school applicants will choose one program to potentially join. Middle School WAM Applicants can indicate their top two choices, but acceptance into those options will be based on availability.
• Visit our application page and fill out the SAY Sí Application Form. All applications must be submitted digitally.
• SAY Sí staff will review all applicants, and eligible candidates will participate in an interview. • • SAY Sí will contact eligible candidates to schedule an in-person interview.
• Students will be notified of the decision via email and letter after interviews have been completed and all applicants have been reviewed.
• After your interview, acceptance or deferral letters will be sent by mail. All accepted students and parents will be required to attend a new student/parent orientation in order to officially join SAY Sí. Orientation is MANDATORY.
Click here to apply
Free
Students study drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and art history with a focus on the development of entrepreneurial and marketing skills. The program’s participants consist of approximately 50 students that attend studio sessions throughout the week that offer creative projects involving a variety of mediums and opportunities to explore and master new techniques.
SAY Sí’s visual arts program aims to provide students projects which involve cultural relevance and a variety of mediums; mentoring, instruction and guidance from staff and visiting artists; entrepreneurial and exhibition opportunities for students to financially benefit from the display and sale of their work; assistance with the development of portfolios, resumes, and applications to art schools, community colleges, and universities, and/or assistance in finding jobs upon graduation from high school.
To be eligible to apply, students must meet the following requirements:
- Parental/guardian permission
- Reliable transportation to and from SAY Sí
- Current enrollment in middle school or high school (public, private, or home school), grades 6-11
- A minimum C average in school
- A commitment to:
- Abide by SAY Sí’s in-person COVID-19 safety protocols, including
- wearing a mask.
- Good attendance year-round
- Complete all SAY Sí projects in a timely manner
- Act as a positive influence in the studios
- Attend weekly studio sessions and student meetings for high schoolers
Student applicants must meet ALL of the above requirements to be eligible for the SAY Sí program. Following acceptance into the program, incoming student-artists must also fill out a mandatory student Memorandum of Understanding.
How to Apply:
• Read ALL SAY Sí Student Requirements above
• Read SAY Sí Program Descriptions. High school applicants will choose one program to potentially join. Middle School WAM Applicants can indicate their top two choices, but acceptance into those options will be based on availability.
• Visit our application page and fill out the SAY Sí Application Form. All applications must be submitted digitally.
• SAY Sí staff will review all applicants, and eligible candidates will participate in an interview. • • SAY Sí will contact eligible candidates to schedule an in-person interview.
• Students will be notified of the decision via email and letter after interviews have been completed and all applicants have been reviewed.
• After your interview, acceptance or deferral letters will be sent by mail. All accepted students and parents will be required to attend a new student/parent orientation in order to officially join SAY Sí. Orientation is MANDATORY.
Click here to apply
Free