Raygen Samone Joins IA Staff
We are excited to welcome Raygen Samone to our IA staff team! Raygen has served as an Artist Mentor with IA for the past three years during our summer Art Exploration programs at Hope Academy and she joins our staff team in a PT capacity, developing partnerships, projects and programs like her new “iMAGE bEARERS” program below. Raygen is a documentary photographer and Bethel University graduate. You can check out her photography work HERE.
iMAGE bEARERS
iMAGE bEARERS is a ten-week program that invites young black teens into financial stewardship and creativity. Documentary Photographer Raygen Samone takes a joyful and grave approach to community development by stirring a desire within black youth for legacy, wisdom, creativity and financial freedom. In a 10-week financial literacy course, the students gather for an hour-long meal around a table, then dive into the Dave Ramsey based curriculum.
Week six of ten is in the books for this inaugural group of black pre-teens coming together Tuesday nights to learn about financial literacy and creative expression! The group dines together each week to learn a fundamental value of business and art: relationship. How to gather, converse, be curious and create where there was once nothing. The second hour is spent learning a concept about personal finance and or creative expression such as journaling, photography or letter-writing. The group spent last Saturday painting the town in their autumn retreat, teaming up in pairs of two to create a ten minute video relating to middle school, personal finance, and $20. Stay tuned for their final videos in the coming weeks!
