Presented by The DIAL, the Media Arts Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) is an arts and creative professional development summer program for young artists of color, who have an interest in exploring media arts and new media as a career. MAAP gives young media and new media artists a first-hand looks at the working life of professional artists, creative organizations and businesses through apprenticeships, mentorships, training, and service-learning projects.

In the spring of 2015, MAAP selected 10 young artists, between the ages of 15 and 21, based on applications and interviews, to be apart of the inaugural year of MAAP. The young MAAP artists’ contributed to the production of the independent feature-film, "1985" - an adventure, romantic-comedy about a group of Hmong teens growing up in the year 1985.

MAAP participants were given valuable professional development activities through interacting with professional artists of color, increasingly challenging project assignments, and stipends for completed projects, which helped to build young artists’ professional and artistic skills.

The film is set to be released in the spring of 2016.

Until then, check out the trailer for the movie:

The In Focus: Media Arts & Leadership Program for Youth was recently featured nationally in the Beacon newsletter, highlighting the successes of the program in Spring 2015. (Below the image is a downloadable file.)

As the 2015-16 school year begins, In Focus: Media Arts & Leadership Program for Youth begins a full year of programming at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, in partnership with Beacons Minneapolis.

In Focus is led by youth and provides at-risk, under-served youths of color in North Minneapolis a high quality, after-school media/digital arts program, with a service-learning component focused on community engagement, information sharing, and data collection.

In Focus uses the following core curricula:

(1) Weekly media/tech training (video production, video editing, photography, script writing, graphic design, audio production, etc.) and leadership development activities (presentations, guest speakers, mentorships).

(2) Media/tech-oriented service-learning projects designed by students with professional guidance and mentorship. For example, students will learn about video production and community issues; then, they will create media products such as a video Public Service Announcement using their new skills and knowledge and present their work to the their peers or the community.

(3) Artists and creative professionals from the community will provide media and other instructions to the students, as well as developing bonds with the youth to help them better navigate their lives.

As a result of In Focus’ unique program design, lessons about culture, the community, and the arts, taught through digital and media art forms give students the motivation to learn and improve their lives both in and out of school.

Here's a video created by In Focus students in the Spring of 2015.