By Mirgentian Gjuta, YES 2011-2012, Albania, hosted by American Councils for International Education in Park Falls, Wisconsin

My name is Mirgentian Gjuta. I am a YES alumna of 2011-2012, currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Civil Engineering in Albania. Throughout my YES exchange year in the United States, I had the wonderful opportunity to learn more about myself and create long-lasting connections that have enlarged my friends and family circle, whose radius now covers four continents. My year in the U.S. was a fundamental experience that allowed me to discover myself and grow into my full potential.

Right after I came home from Wisconsin, re-adapting to Albania was a difficult challenge. It felt like I was a different person and not rarely did I hear the expression: “Gent, you’ve changed!” Often this would be when I engaged in discussions of social or economic problems in Albania, like youth unemployment or educational opportunities in Albania, often times critical of the current situation and the little efforts addressing the issues.

With a “go against the flow” attitude, I became engaged in several community service organizations. I was trying to actualize the change in me that everyone was talking about. In 2015, I participated in the YES Alumni Transformational Leadership Training (TLT) workshop for several months online and hosted the group of YES alumni participants for the in-person training in Tirana, Albania.

Through the TLT workshop, I came up with idea to work on a project that addressed the apathy of youth in Albania. ART it OUT is a project designed to use the arts to motivate youth to transform social problems in Albania into opportunities of entrepreneurship and civil engagement for Albanian youth. Together with Youth Center Borderless, a youth NGO in Tirana where I volunteer, we brought together young artists to inspire others to change their perspectives through art.

Youth Center Borderless recruited the artists and organized the event, targeting young artists in Albania and Albanian youth. The young artists will prepare artworks around the theme, “Albanian youth reality,” which will be displayed in an exhibition at the Tirana Youth Center on April 16. Our goal is that this exhibition, and in particular these curated works of art, will motivate youth in Albania to shake off what seems to be a suffocating apathy, get out of their comfort zone, and start making changes they want to see in the community.

We promoted the project on social media with the slogan “Transforming social problems in opportunities by changing perspectives through art” #ARTitOUT, and we contacted the University of Arts in Albania, and the Artistic High School in Tirana to promote the project in their auditoriums. We also contacted several organizations to spread the idea with their volunteers. Within two weeks, we received over 30 applications from young artists applying for the first part of the project, a motivational seminar. Youth are still sending us their application letters!

The motivation seminar took place on March 20 with 35 young artists in attendance. In this seminar, Professor Edmond Gjikopulli from the University of Arts in Tirana spoke to young artists regarding how art brings about social change in the community. He introduced his own experiences with art and talked about how his paintings represent the reality of Albania during communism and the post-communist era. In the second part of the seminar, Mr. Bekim Shehu, Executive Director of the National Youth Congress in Albania, talked about the different opportunities youth have to become active citizens and change makers of the Albanian society.

The feedback we received from the seminar was very positive and uplifting to the YES alumni and Youth Center Borderless volunteers that worked to implement this project. The artists were eager to be a part of this project, and were willing to participate in future initiatives that support young artists and promote their artwork.

During the final event, an exhibition on April 16, the audience will vote on the best artwork and the winner will receive a prize of $50. We are also working with local organizations, businesses, and institutions to find places to permanently display the artwork. The volunteer team is in frequent contact with the artists and is providing support and guidance to them as we approach this exciting next step.

Throughout the preparation phase of the project and the implementation of the seminar, the team has been very active and willing to cooperate for a better outcome. Many thanks go out to the tireless staff of YES alumni and Youth Center Borderless and everyone who contributed to the successful implementation of the project including Linda Meniku, Director of American Councils for International Education in Tirana. My thanks to the TLT training team from the Salam Institute for Peace and Justice and to the sponsor of the YES program, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.