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ARTS STREET ENVIRONMENTAL
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Everyone deals with anxiety in different ways and art can be positive outlet. For one of the summer 2020 projects youth were asked to create expressions through poetry and visual art focusing on their own anxieties and feelings.

Art & Poem by Abby Liang
​I tell myself to stop as I harshly yank my brain to come back
But instead, it hops like frog further and further into the future
It feels like someone is strangling me
It feels like piles of needles are piercing my hands 
So much to the point they’re numbed
It feels like my heart is about to burst out
That’s when the endless thoughts come creeping in
“Am I doing enough” “She said I did good, but did I really?”
Heck I’m even panicking whether this poem makes sense or not
The cold breeze radiating from my window brushes my skin
And that’s what brings me back into this scorching hot world
My mind flies back and forth, like a bird trying to find their place
I retract my wings as I remind myself that I’m not supernatural
I can’t do everything, I cannot be the best 
I’ll never fully get rid of this anxiety parasite sticking against my body
But I can try my best to diminish the anxiety particles I can control
I gently breath in a ball of love, for myself, my body, my face and others
Then through my mouth, I slowly breath out the tension
I softly declare that I can become the best version of myself
The envision of what’s best is like snowflakes
Everyone has a different pattern and it may change overtime
And I have decided that my snowflake
Will be, to have the future generation experience the beauty in this world too
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Art & Poem by Ai Huynh
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Wake up(n)

1. There was a time where I was unsure. 2. Unsure whether the heartbeats in my heart were in panic or joy. 3. My thoughts race fast until I hear the words come out of my mouth. 4. “I’m scared” 5. And then I woke up. 6. I looked outside and realized.7. Let wake up from my slumber and reason with myself. 8. Let me get this straight. 9. I’m not ashamed of my pain. 10. Anxiety is not my name and I will not apologize for it

Beat & Poem by
​Alan Navarro
The way the world is going
It makes my head spin round.
We’d like to thing it’s healthy
But truthfully its going down
There is not much time left to truly save the world
But if we act fast, we can surely reverse the twirl.
If we act now we can save the boys and girls It is not their fault, that the world is slowly dying
​Only thing we need, is for people to start trying.
Beats & Prose by
​Martin Finley
 I Can’t Breathe
​
I​ can’t BreatheI can’t breathe or have an anxiety attack when my asthma flares up or I’m having an attack. I start to panic sometimes when I’m gasping for air and my Inhaler doesn't work and I have to use my second Inhaler or my mom has to run the shower so I can have the steam to breathe.
​If all that doesn't work then I have to go to the hospital and they give me more treatment and I can calm down. They also give me a blue ball to squeeze so that I can calm down. I hate having asthma and allergies symptoms. But when I can’t breathe I just panic and have anxiety issues.Being able to Breathe is a very serious issue for me.BRRREEEAAATTTHHEEEEEEEE........
Poem by Anonymous 

Art & Poem by Alexzander Austin 
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Forest Fire Demons Slam Poem 
​
​I scream Black Power even though I feel like I lost that power
My mind doesn’t just have inner demons or shapeless voices destroying my thoughts and my choices.
I have to look at my core lower than the floorA FIRE.
Or something more.
Something dire My own forest fire
It continues to grow higher as my body becomes an immortal pyre.

These flames I cannot see
These flames won’t let me be.
I am a prisoner in my own mind

Now I find this fire I thought was just mine. All the time I lied and said I was just fine
It was Something I should have left behind it has left my body but got stronger inside
my mind.

The world took my breath.
You killed my clean air.
As my fires and skin destroyed my voice. Now isn’t that fair. My head spinning, Continuing to tell me they don’t care
Don’t care...
D. O. N. T...

The fires outside of my body kills the bear
As my inner fires make me blare into
​the void
Destroyed being able to share.
But I am supposed to be a man
I need to try and do what I can
But I never made a plan.
I just want to make a stand
​
The world you created for me is dying
That doesn’t mean I am dying.
Even though I am crying

You Drain my water,
Feed forest fires
Then try to debate with about problems across the sea. Telling me about Isis
Instead of saving polar bears where the
ice is.

Co2 fog is making it so people can not see. ​

Can’t you see these are people like you
​and me


I just hope one day I can flee
Become my own tree.
Instead of my own enemy
unfazed by the fires within me
Just let the planet be.
So that I can see the beauty inside of me.

Stop the Fire because my body is the tree. Concede your greed
You Cut trees just to watch it bleed.
I mustn’t cedeI
dream of the day I am...
​FREED

Art & Poem by Bibiana Casillas
My Voice

My voice,
I can't find it.
Nowhere to be found, nowhere to be heard from.
Is it under the sea with the turtles that wear plastic like necklaces,
Is it in the forest where animals must leave because they got an
eviction notice,
Or is it lost between the many other voices grasping for the little air that we have left. Grasping for land that was never ours
Or maybe we never had a voice to begin with.
The world spins faster than the Tasmanian devil tornado, and it won't
​slow down.
I can’t breathe, the air I breathe carries shards of glass.
Shards inked with pollution.
​Maybe if I sleep I can dream of the perfect world, only then will I be at peace.
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Poems by Monique Birdsong
Air Pollution

Cough cough all this smoke in the air make it stop 
oh no the trees can’t produce oxygen 
oh how I mourn for the land animals 
oh when will they live in peace away from the smoke in the air 
oh make it stop, make it stop please, please, please shut off your factories 
oh how I am saddened so much smoke, ugh why won’t it stop 
oh why oh why we don’t need more smoke 
We need clean air.
Trash
​

Splot, bam, cans falling everywhere
oh no, a fish got trash in his gills. 
Cough Cough
oh no, a deer swallowed a candy wrapper
oh now in am in rage 
all these good animals are dying
oh I feel down
put your trash where it belongs not just anywhere.
 

Art & Poem by Cameron Brown
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The Animator

​Anxiety was and is a part of my life. Anxiety breaks pieces of me that I try to find in strife. Anxiety was my drunk father who was a mentally abusive lazy bum. A father that took me almost my entire life to overcome. Anxiety haunts my nightmares like an annoying ghost. Anxiety makes me an idiot and makes me hate myself the most. Even though anxiety is waiting and knocking outside my door. I won't answer, because I'm too busy being an awesome animator.

Carly McClungArt by Dawson Lear, Eric Torres-Mejia and Carly McClung
Carly McClung

​​Carly MArt & Poem by Ean Rains
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​Through my head run the memories of the wrong I have done.
Every mistake cycles on loop,
Every regret adds another boulder,
The burden on my shoulders forces me into the dirt
Pounding on my head,
Hardening the exterior like bronze,
But leaving me trapped in a shell of my own mistakes.
My demeanor hard, but my core soft,
I pray for someone, polished into a diamond,
Pure enough to cut through the shell I have built,
Built to keep myself in,
And others out. With one crack, my shell could shatter, letting my emotions erupt,
But with a clean cut, from someone polished inside and out,
They would run free and constant,
​A state foreign to me for years.

gArt by Jack Huggins, Naomy Napolitan and Rosalind Beattie 

gArt & Poem by Emily Strand
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I’m Overthinking Again

 
I’m overthinking again
 
Thoughts swarm my brain
Growing heavier and heavier
But I can’t seem to catch them.
 
They are alarms
Pulsing urgency and danger
But I can’t seem to hear them.
There are thousands
A million different things to consider
But they don’t form into words.
 
I finally reach them 
I grasp the questions I’ve created
But I have no answer.
 
Am I supposed to bring this?
Did I forget something?
Will I know anyone there? 
What do I do?
Am I doing this wrong?
What do I look like?
How do I make a difference? 
 


I create false realities in my head
Tricking myself into believing them
Paranoid about situations that don’t exist
 
My bubble of thoughts enlarges
Growing out of proportion 
What was I thinking about again?
 
Overthinking my overthinking
Stuck in a whirlpool of thoughts
Stuck with a stomach of stones 
Stuck in time, frozen in place
Stuck in my head, going in circles… 

​Wait. 
 
I have to be conscious  
Speak out the worries
Reflect them onto others
Reflect upon myself
 
I’m overthinking again
 
The thoughts begin to shrink
Everything seems so small 
Compared to the world before me 
 
That’s right
Big projects, big problems
Broken into pieces
Into steps
Into to-do lists
 
I can do this
And I’ll remember this for when
 
I’m overthinking again.
 


gStory & Poem by Micheal Herrera
The Wrath of Mother Earth and the Story of Young Ava
Anxiety

​Anxiety is a sharp blade made to be wielded by those who control the strength of mind
For this sacred blade has cut down even the strongest knights
​with fame
Anxiety is a double-sided sword sharp enough to cut through any mental fortitude we place
Your mind is a forest, a kingdom, a place of harmony away from these environmental problems
To maintain your paradise and share you must venture beyond your gates and share your perfect world with the people in need and for future generations
The blade of anxiety resets on every one of our shoulders and unsheathes when you are less prepared and most vulnerable. As a knight and fighter for a better world I to must face the terrifying sword and await its judging
However, in your kingdom hope is never loss, for the inner strength and power to command this weapon comes with training and sharpening tool you already have
Every great sword has a great knight behind it, King Arthur had not let Excalibur reach his wrong thoughts
In every soul, will and fire, lies a courageous knight waiting to behold our sword
​Train your mind, your feelings and tame the beast anxiety and use it against the greater evil of our environmental issues.

Poems by Juliet Kale
​It builds my body like it knows me.
It’s a second personality. I want it out.
It stops me from seeing the future
It’s the reason why I always worried, hold back, and have no confidence
Why won’t it go? Is it following me? Did I do something?
No
It just lives with me. I deal with it but is that good?
How does it feel to be free? To talk to people and not be afraid of what they think?
To do the things I want to do in life not because I’m forced to. I can’t control myself
​Is it okay to feel this way? It feels like a punishment caused by me and I’m the only one who has to pay the price.
​

Acrostic by Ruby Mendez
​Anxious hearts
Numerous frustrations
Xerothermic airs
Internal troubles
Endless worries
Terminological confusions
Youthful apprehensions
HELP ONE HELP ALL

​Don’t you see the world around you?
It’s tearin up and you’re at home
while some of us are fighting this battle alone
More is better than one they say. Many can help
many in different ways
Until this becomes the earth we used to claim

 
Air pollution which makes it harder to breathe
And all the junk food, it damages our teeth
And our health and our wealth it starts to decrease
because we ain’t important to society

 
​But what about climate change?

It’s a survival show for those who want
their normal lives to maintain
It causes storms, droughts, and dramatic heat waves
Let’s fight together until there’s something to gain
At least until those kids are saved
 
Doesn’t this hurt you?
Do you only have to help unless there’s pain in your heart?
Come on get up,  we can make it far.
Some of us passed the beginning line
When will you start?

Poem &gPhotograph by Kwizi Ndogole
Beautiful Creatures 
​
Life is like a strong wind, that comes and destroys everything
Leaving our life in worry  and fear
Leaving our life without hope
Wondering and searching for hope
How do I find hope?
 
Hearing the sound of birds chirping
Hearing the calm sound of rain
Hearing the calm wind in the light fog forest
Hearing the weave in the ocean makes my heart bloom
All the worries and burdens fade away
I finally have hope
I see hope in my life
I can breath
Looking at these wonderful creatures makes my heart rejoice
Life is a beautiful creation.
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Art & Poem by Vanessa Sarabio
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I don’t understand why people like to ignore we’re in an
environmental crisis
They see the dryness of rivers, lakes, creeks 
But they choose to ignore it
They hear the  cries, screams, and weeps of those suffering
from this the most
But they choose to ignore
They feel the spring, summer, fall, and winter getting hotter
But they choose to ignore it
They taste the guilt, shame, and embarrassment for contributing
to this problem
But they choose to ignore it
It would be best if these feelings were acknowledged by the people who are feeling them
Specifically the reptiles that are in power so they stop making things worse for not just us but themselves as well
By choosing to never address the problems that we face environmentally, it impacts us physically, emotionally and mentally
But they choose to ignore it
The people have spoken
They want change
Enough of your discounts, your broken promises, your thoughts and prayers
They contribute nothing to the solutions that people have come up with to slow down our damaging lifestyle
But they choose to ignore it
The people started shouting
Shouting for change to occur as fast as possible so that future generations can live on and suffer less by the problems
​caused by those who have lived long before us
Shouting for safer practices of activities that continuously keep damaging the Earth acting like we have a spare
But they choose to ignore it
The extent that the reptiles go to to silence those that are speaking their minds makes me feel like what I say that doesn’t mean anything
I could have evidence and reasoning to back up my point but so long as I’m a kid and a girl
I’ll still be ignored 
Because I’m too young to know what I’m talking about and too delicate to fight for my rights to say what I want
I’ll be ignored
How much more fighting do they want out of us?
How many more petty arguments do they want us to start with people who will cover their ears when we speak our minds?
How bad does the Earth have to get for them to start taking things seriously and enact change?
Just how long am I supposed to wait to live in a place that’s clean enough for me to feel safe?


 Art & Poem by Xander Stewart
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Anxiety is like a brother you never wanted
Always reminding you about things you said
Those things that you said weren’t quite that bad
But anxiety will say they are bad until you’re dead
 
When you’re having a normal day in your life
You try not to let anxiety get control of you
But then it starts yelling questions in your head
That make you question if you’re good or poo
 
Anxiety has a few friends as well
That can make your life feel very hard
They’re depression, procrastination, and phobias
But those are just the tip of the ice burg, just one shard
 
Why can’t the anxiety just go away
Well guess what it was evolution of the brain
To make sure you didn’t die in the stone age
But in these modern times, it just makes you go insane
 
It won’t leave you alone at all ever
You can’t hide the fact that you’ve felt it too
Anxiety haunts us all at least one time in our life
It breaks us, destroys us, and takes place in you
 
It’s hard to comprehend how much anxiety can change us
When you think about it to long it’ll take control of your life
Trying to get rid of it unhealthily might just add to the problem
So try not to think about it, oh wait, it feels impossible, like trying to leave a wife
 
When life gives you lemons, they say make lemonade
But it’s hard since anxiety makes you choke
Anxiety keeps you from asking for help
Even though the help might make you go woke.

Poems by Vyvvian Barraza
The world is not what it once was
Beautiful, green, untouched
What is it like now?
Dying, dark, polluted
Do it for you
Do it for the ones before us
Do it for everyone already helping
It’s time to stop taking advantage
It provided for us in many ways
How do we repay it?
Pollution of trash, air, people
Do it for the animals
Do it for the generations to come
Do it for the future of this Earth
I’m completely sane and okay
But there’s times where my thoughts say
Are they judging me?
No
I’m the only one judging me
I plea for them to stop but they don’t seem to go away
It weighs on my shoulders all day
My thoughts portray that I’m not good enough
I would get rid of them if I could, I don’t ask for them,
​No one does
They’re intruders

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