2027 YoungArts National Arts Competition Educator Resource Guide

Manaswini Avvari has been a Kuchipudi practitioner (a form of traditional South Indian Classical Dance) in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 16 years and has been an assistant teacher at Natyalaya Kuchipudi School of Dance since 2020. She has received a diploma in Kuchipudi and a Masters of Arts in Kuchipudi from Aria University, one of the first universities in the United States to offer a formal education in the Indian Classical arts. She has been a fellow and creative director for IndianRaga, a global Indian classical arts platform, and has also served as a judge for collegiate national classical dance competitions alongside esteemed dancers from across the nation. Along with numerous performances and teachings across the country and abroad, she also directs, choreographs and produces various dance and music productions for social media channels in an attempt to share her passion for the Indian classical arts.

“YoungArts was the turning point of my life in making me realize that dance was an integral part of my life and that I can make it a part of my career. YoungArts provided me with the resources, confidence and motivation to pursue my artistic journey.“

Eddie R Brown III, 1998 YoungArts winner in Theater, attended the New World School of the Arts, in Miami, FL. Upon graduating Eddie continued studying acting at DePaul University where he received his BFA. After graduating from The Theater School, Eddie performed in productions at The Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Bombitty of Errors, Julius Caesar) and The Victory Gardens Theater (Kiwi Black – Jeff Award Winner). In 2006, Eddie was accepted into the Yale School of Drama where he was conferred his MFA in Acting. Eddie was invited twice to the Sundance Theatre Lab where he workshopped Stew’s Passing Strange, Philip Kotanda’s After the War, Mrisho Mpoto’s Africa Kills Her Sun, and Colman Domingo’s Wild with Happy. His professional theater credits include The Brother Size (Seattle Repertory Theater), The Total Bent (The Public Theater), Bloodazzler  (Harlem Stage), FLY (Cincinnati Playhouse/St. Louis Repertory Theater), Topdog/Underdog (Adrienne Arsht Center), Shakespeare Call and Response (Old Globe). On television, Eddie has appeared on Rescue Me (FX), NYC 22 (CBS), and Ironside (NBC).  Film credits include Home: (dir. Jono Oliver), and The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (dir. George Tillman). Eddie served as dialect coach for David Makes Man (OWN) and privately coached OT Fagbenle’s Barack Obama idiolect in Showtime’s The First Lady. 

“YoungArts gave me access to institutions, workshops, internships and financial resources that have helped me grow and sustain a life in the arts.”

A 2006 YoungArts winner in Visual Arts, Orpheus Collar is a graphic novelist best known for his work adapting Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus into New York Times bestselling graphic novels, and for his Noble Prize (sic) -winning graphic novel Alien Boys with multi platinum recording artist Oliver Tree. He also works in film as a visual consultant on advertisements you’ve seen, tv shows and music videos you may have seen, and movies and video games you’ll likely never see. He tours his original graphic novels at schools , libraries, and festivals nationwide, and when not making creative works enjoys motorcycling, urban kayaking, and the occasional scuba dive.

“I wouldn’t have tried if not for the encouragement of my teachers, and I wouldn’t have striven if I hadn’t known other classmates or prior winners. In this, I was helped coming from a magnet arts high school, so the other big thing educators can support is bringing awareness so it’s on their young artists’ radar.“

Emma Craigen is a Chicago-based visual artist and educator with over six years of experience teaching students across K–12 settings and more than a decade of professional artistic practice. As a YoungArts winner, Emma is passionate about helping young artists access opportunities, build their portfolios and see themselves as part of a larger creative community.

Carlos Cepeda Gómez is a 2020 YoungArts winner in Design and has worked as a YoungArts Residential Advisor since 2024. Carlos holds a BS in Architecture and a minor in Urban Design from Washington University in St. Louis and will begin a master’s in landscape architecture and urban planning from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in the fall. As an interdisciplinary thinker and architect, Carlos is interested in working at the intersection of community development, ecological urbanism, and climate preparedness with the ultimate goal to create robust infrastructural and social systems that advocate for every person’s right to remain. He has worked with The Earth Architecture Lab and the UN International Organization for Migration, Design and Architecture Senior High in Miami and The Underline. His work has been exhibited as architecture and art in St. Louis, Portland, Miami, Raleigh, Florence, Athens, Bologna and virtually.

“I have always followed this saying in Spanish my mom would tell me that roughly translate to: “in life, the worst errand is that one that never gets done.” It is really incredible to think how a little bit of courage, effort, and faith into an application can change everything—YoungArts is that one errand that got done and turned into a lifetime of community and support.“

Anya Jiménez is a 2022 YoungArts winner in Writing and Theatre and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She is a chismosa, ecologist, New Yorker, and drag king who believes everyone should shave their head at least once. She writes and directs dramedies about the loud, messy women who raised her, and the even messier women she loves to love. Splitting her time between microbiology labs and film sets, she cares about hard-earned hope and community, in science and art. Her work has been recognized nationally by organizations including Scholastic, OceanX, the Pushcart Press, and 10+ theaters. She is a recent alumna of USC’s Writing for Screen and Television BFA with a minor in Environmental Studies. She still does not have a driver’s license.

“Without encouragement from my educators, I would have been too scared to apply to YoungArts. Personal engagements between alumni and future winners can make a life-changing difference.“

Jax Neal is a writer, choreographer and performance artist based in Los Angeles, California. A 2018 YoungArts winner in Writing, Neal now serves as the festival director of Brave New Voices, the largest youth poetry festival in the world. In 2024, Neal received support from YoungArts to train in the performance art techniques of the Marina Abramović Institute in Athens, Greece. Neal served as the 2025 Blue Box choreographer in residence in Vienna, Austria for his dance work HALA, created with the Bulgarian Women’s Choir, Nevenka Folk Ensemble and the support of YoungArts. Through his performance work, Neal brings traditional and contemporary artists together on stage to create a shared artistic future.

“It’s important that we see our creativity existing in a network. Ideas lead to ideas, inspiration leads to inspiration. More than celebrating any one individual genius or prodigy, the understanding that we exist among a coalition of people striving for beauty, meaning, and expression makes the road less lonely and therefore more possible. Young artists should apply to YoungArts because you’ll meet people who push your forms, limits, and imagination.“

Carlynn Newhouse (she/her) is a poet, host, performer and educator. Her passion for the pen and performance has made space for her as a YoungArts winner, the only 3x Youth Speaks Seattle Grand Slam Champion, and 4th ranked woman poet in the world. Originally from Seattle, she currently practices in Washington D.C. where she obtained her Bachelors of Science from Howard University. Carlynn is the recipient of fellowships from Adobe, Watering Hole, Obsidian Foundation and Hurston/Wright Foundation. Her work has been featured on platforms including Microsoft, Button Poetry, The Aspen Institute, Kennedy Center and more. Carlynn believes poetry is a form of activism and a tool for raising awareness in hopes of making the world a safer space. Her debut chapbook, “Even the Tender Things Grow Teeth” was published in March 2025. To learn more about Carlynn, visit carlynnnewhouse.com. 

CRISTY TRABADASS is an award-winning writer, director, producer, and entrepreneur with eight years of experience in narrative, documentary, and episodic filmmaking. She is the owner and co-founder of three South Florida production companies—Trabadass Productions, Smoke Stacks Studios, and Jumped Who Productions—where she develops and produces film, television, and commercial projects. She is a graduate of Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts, an alumna of the Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship 2020, and the Sundance Institute Short Film Intensive. In 2016, she was recognized as a YoungArts winner and is a member of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. Beyond filmmaking, Trabadass is committed to mentorship and education. Trabadass has a fearless approach to filmmaking and a drive to push creative boundaries. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Science degree in creative Arts Entrepreneurship at FSU.

“YoungArts has been my landing place– the one constant in my roller coaster of a film career. The people, support and mentorship is home. I don’t know where I would be without YoungArts.“

Kai Naima Williams is a multidisciplinary writer and performing artist based in Harlem, New York. She is the author of the poetry chapbooks He Tried To Drown The Ocean, I Waved (2018) and Tomorrow Maps (2023), as well as the children’s picture book The Bridges Yuri Built: How Yuri Kochiyama Marched Across Movements (2024). A co-founder of Eat At The Table Theatre Company, she has written, directed and produced original theatrical works and performed at literary and cultural events nationwide. Her writing has appeared in journals, magazines and anthologies, and she has participated in speaking engagements at museums and cultural institutions across the country. She is a 2026 Margins Fellow, a 2023 Bandung Resident and the recipient of the 2018 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival Grand Prize in Fiction.

“Attending National YoungArts Week as a Winner in 2015 changed the way I thought about myself and my practice. Before YoungArts Week, I considered myself an aspiring artist. Afterwards, I believed that “artist” was an innate and core part of my identity, and I left the program feeling uniquely affirmed in my path. My experience there – meeting fellow writers, taking masterclasses, witnessing the work of winners in other disciplines – gave me the confidence, encouragement, and focus to pursue my creative goals in the years that followed. I have carried the writing practices and advice I learned there throughout my life and career, even passing down those to my own students.“