Tickets

Don’t worry, it’s free!

Join us on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the Bay Area Creative Foundation's fifth annual Creative Youth Celebration! Get ready for a day filled with creativity, inspiration, and fun!

This year's event will not only showcase the artwork and performances of the 2025 Creative Youth Awards artists, but also provide an action packed day of arts activities, professional artist panel discussions and the opportunity to connect with other young creatives from across the Bay Area! Whether you're into art, music, dance, film or any other form of creative expression, this event is for you.

This free public event is open to all! Mark your calendars and spread the word to all your friends. Let's make this a day to remember!

• awardee artwork exhibitions

• student performances

Bring your friends and family to enjoy:

• film screenings

• hands-on activities

• networking opportunities

• panel discussions

• arts activations

• keynote address

Schedule

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  • • Explore hundreds of award winning creative works

    • Watch film screenings

    • Participate in hands-on arts activities

    • Catch pop-up performances, including:

    • A string quartet (featuring original music by Grace L.)

    • Live readings from several youth poets (including Sophia D.)

    • High energy dance ensemble (featuring Risa H.)

    • Native American Pow Wow dance (featuring Tk H.)

    • Classical guitar performance (featuring Charlie G.)

  • Discover how to unlock your imagination and channel it into powerful creative projects. This panel explores the journey from brainstorming to bringing ideas to life, offering insights on fostering curiosity, making space for creative thinking, and navigating the practical steps to turn dreams into reality. Learn how artists shape their visions and make them tangible through thoughtful processes and action.

    • Moderator: Daisy Nam

    • Rafael Flores

    • Mariella Gutiérrez

    • Frederick Noland

  • Great art isn’t just about skill—it’s about authenticity. This panel explores how the creative process is a journey of self-discovery, where the more you understand and express your true self, the more powerful and impactful your work becomes. Panelists will discuss how embracing your unique perspective leads to deeper, more resonant art and how personal expression invites audiences to connect with their own emotions and experiences. Through conversation and reflection, this session will inspire young artists to see their creative practice as a lifelong pursuit of knowing themselves better—because the closer you get to your truth, the stronger your art becomes.

    • Moderator: Kathryn Wade

    • Kota Ezawa

    • Calvin Ray Shawler

    • Maw Shein Win

  • Joe Talbot, Writer & Director of The Last Black Man in San Francisco

    In our final main stage session, you'll hear from keynote speaker Joe Talbot, enjoy incredible student performances, and - of course - celebrate the 2025 Creative Youth Awardees! Before Joe Talbot won Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival, he was a woefully lost 20-something who didn’t know how to transform all of his feelings about his hometown into a movie. The visionary filmmaker behind The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Joe has a deep understanding of the region's creative spirit and social landscape. His presentation will speak to the power of youth storytelling, the role of art in community building, and the importance of equipping youth with the tools and belief to turn imagination into action. Joe will share his creative journey, and offer insight into how to follow a creative idea and actually make a project happen.

Speakers

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  • Lani Rovzar comes to BACF with a deep working history in the Bay Area arts community, as well as expertise in start-ups and Branded Environments. She's worked with organizations such as The Sharon Art Studio, New Langton Arts, Museum of Craft & Folk Art, Headlands Center for the Arts, and served on the Advisory Board for the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery. Passionate about supporting local artists and community, she founded 42 Degrees Arts Agency, an incubator program through Intersection for the Arts. She believes it is especially important to support the wonder, inquisitiveness and joy creativity invites in young people, so that it has the opportunity to grow into a natural modality that shapes the way they approach their lives and the world. For fun, Lani enjoys taking photos with her vintage Polaroid LandCameras on hikes in the Mojave Desert.

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  • Kirstin Bach is a long-time San Francisco resident, arts administrator and mother of two teenagers. She has organized and produced artist projects and exhibitions in a variety of cultural settings. She formerly headed up the Arts program at the Exploratorium where she led the artist-in-residence program as well as art installations, programs and performances. Previous to her work at the Exploratorium, Kirstin was an exhibition coordinator at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Assistant Director for Administration at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Program Director for The Seed Fund. Kirstin has learned through her experience working with artists and scientists, that curiosity and creativity fuel innovative thinking and drive learning. She is fervent in her support of creative youth, and through her work hopes to cultivate an understanding of the value of lifelong creativity.

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  • Grace is a marketing leader with over a decade of experience building brands, leading strategy, and executing campaigns across B2C, B2B, and B2B2C channels. She has worked at early-stage startups and mission-driven organizations, where she's led everything from product launches to partnerships and creative content development. She was drawn to BACF by its commitment to uplifting young artists and valuing the creative process—a mission that deeply resonates with her own experiences and values. Creativity has been a central thread throughout Grace’s life. She studied vocal performance in college, directed her a cappella group, and has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She’s passionate about design, and has recently taken up watercolor painting as another creative outlet.

Performers

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  • As a long-time Bay Area resident and supporter of the Arts, Dr. Emil Kakkis, formed the Bay Area Creative Foundation to establish a non-profit organization promoting creativity in young people in the Arts and Sciences. We seek to inspire local residents, schools and businesses to support creativity and creative efforts of our local creative youth. The goal is to increase the awareness of the importance of creativity in all of our lives and encourage our young creatives by acknowledging that they have a special place in the world and are valued by their community.

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  • John Ditton is the CEO of Granville Management and serves on the board of directors of the Bay Area Creative Foundation and other biotech and technology start up companies. Before forming the BACF with founder Dr. Emil Kakkis, John worked as a patient group liaison and leader in commercial operations & marketing for rare disease companies. John helped launch the Rare Artist competition and web gallery for the EveryLife Foundation and seeing the joy this brought to the participants, he was immediately drawn to take on the challenge of encouraging creativity in our high schools. John’s passion to develop creative business leaders willing and able to tackle tomorrow’s challenges was formed working with marketing agencies, salespeople and innovative scientists for 20+ years. John is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Duntroon and the University of Tasmania and lives in the Nevada Sierra surrounded by the creative energies of his wife Katie (arts & crafts) and his two sons, Ty (aspiring actor) and Jack (redesigning gaming for the next generation).

A woman with shoulder-length light brown hair, wearing a black floral dress, smiling at the camera with a light gray background.

  • Tishan Cowan is an innovative partnerships leader with over 20 years experience designing impactful partnership strategy roadmaps and building best in class teams that deliver on organizational goals and missions. Having worked at both entertainment media companies and technology start ups, she enjoys building new roadmaps that haven’t existed before. Currently, she serves as the Head of Partnerships at Understood.org, a social impact organization dedicated to helping individuals with learning and thinking differences thrive.

A smiling woman with long brown hair, wearing a black top, layered gold necklaces, and a nose ring, against a gray gradient background.

  • Lani Rovzar comes to BACF with a deep working history in the Bay Area arts community, as well as expertise in start-ups and Branded Environments. She's worked with organizations such as The Sharon Art Studio, New Langton Arts, Museum of Craft & Folk Art, Headlands Center for the Arts, and served on the Advisory Board for the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery. Passionate about supporting local artists and community, she founded 42 Degrees Arts Agency, an incubator program through Intersection for the Arts. She believes it is especially important to support the wonder, inquisitiveness and joy creativity invites in young people, so that it has the opportunity to grow into a natural modality that shapes the way they approach their lives and the world. For fun, Lani enjoys taking photos with her vintage Polaroid LandCameras on hikes in the Mojave Desert.

A smiling woman with blonde, wavy hair and blue eyes, wearing a black top and a blue scarf, against a plain, light background.

  • Kirstin Bach is a long-time San Francisco resident, arts administrator and mother of two teenagers. She has organized and produced artist projects and exhibitions in a variety of cultural settings. She formerly headed up the Arts program at the Exploratorium where she led the artist-in-residence program as well as art installations, programs and performances. Previous to her work at the Exploratorium, Kirstin was an exhibition coordinator at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Assistant Director for Administration at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Program Director for The Seed Fund. Kirstin has learned through her experience working with artists and scientists, that curiosity and creativity fuel innovative thinking and drive learning. She is fervent in her support of creative youth, and through her work hopes to cultivate an understanding of the value of lifelong creativity.

Close-up portrait of a smiling woman with long brown hair, wearing a black top and a delicate gold necklace against a plain light background.

  • Grace is a marketing leader with over a decade of experience building brands, leading strategy, and executing campaigns across B2C, B2B, and B2B2C channels. She has worked at early-stage startups and mission-driven organizations, where she's led everything from product launches to partnerships and creative content development. She was drawn to BACF by its commitment to uplifting young artists and valuing the creative process—a mission that deeply resonates with her own experiences and values. Creativity has been a central thread throughout Grace’s life. She studied vocal performance in college, directed her a cappella group, and has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She’s passionate about design, and has recently taken up watercolor painting as another creative outlet.

We couldn’t do it alone.

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The Creative Youth Awards Celebration wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of our sponsors. Their support helps us recognize young artists, award meaningful prizes, and create an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. Looking for a way to get involved?