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“Lost Childhoods,” an exhibition centered on the perspectives of youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, is on view through the end of May at the downtown branch of the Redwood City Library. The exhibition, featuring art and artifacts from current and former foster youth, and its connected discussion series, are presented by CASA of San Mateo County (an organization that pairs community volunteers with children in the foster care and juvenile justice systems) and Foster Youth Museum.
CASA of San Mateo County Executive Director Nkia Richardson said the organization was eager to bring “Lost Childhoods” to the area in part because of art’s power to communicate, educate and heal.
“This exhibit is by and about young people who have navigated life in foster care and/or the juvenile justice system. Through this exhibit they are able to use their voices and share their stories – stories that too often are hidden or told by other people,” Richardson wrote in an email to this news organization. “We are so excited for folks in San Mateo County to have the opportunity to experience this amazing exhibit, to learn and to be moved to action.”
There are nearly 70,000 young people in California’s foster care system, according to Richardson, and many families in San Mateo County are struggling with financial instability and housing insecurity and are affected by issues such as violence, addiction and physical and mental health struggles.
“Those same traumas are often at the root of challenges that bring young people into the juvenile justice system,” she wrote. “This exhibit helps all of us better understand the needs and challenges of system-impacted youth so we can, individually and collectively, provide crucial support.”
The items included in “Lost Childhoods” are poignant, such as a large, purple teddy bear representing comfort, love and connection, given from one sibling to another.
As the siblings were separated and moved from one placement to the next, “this bear carried with it the love of family and the hope of being reunited,” the exhibition text states.
Some items and artworks are harrowing, telling stories of sex trafficking, abuse and isolation. In an email to this news organization, Foster Youth Museum Executive Director Jamie Lee Evans described an untitled painting by a San Mateo County youth artist who had been incarcerated locally as a teen, as an especially powerful work. The painting depicts a shackled and nude body with a dismembered, floating head and the words “Supreme Court of Law” written above, representing the artist’s use of dissociation as a coping mechanism when she felt stripped of privacy and control over her life. “This piece of art is both visually powerful and confronting,” Evans wrote. “The youth has done an amazing job representing what it was like to be at the mercy of the court, feeling misunderstood, exposed and powerless.”
A panel of artwork, report cards, photos and other typical refrigerator decorations of childhood serves as a reminder that “these drawings and schoolwork by foster youth never had a home to go to,” the exhibition text states. Other items reflect the startling lack of sensitivity sometimes shown in regards to foster youth’s backgrounds.
There are portraits of resilience and love, too, such as a photograph of two sisters who were the only survivors of a quintuplet birth. Separated in the foster care system, they’ve since reunited and remain very close, the caption states.
Since the exhibit opened in early April, there has been a series of talks and events in conjunction with its installation. On May 19 at 6 p.m., there will be a discussion on school stability for foster youth, and on May 20 at 5:30 p.m., there will be a panel discussion – “Looking Back, Moving Forward: Juvenile Justice in San Mateo County” – featuring youth voices, elected officials and agency leaders.
“Lost Childhoods” also gives information on how the community can get involved with making a difference for foster youth, including through volunteer opportunities.
“As visitors leave our exhibition they can pick up a card with a suggestion of a personal and practical action to take,” Evans wrote. “This is what the exhibition is about – for viewers to be moved by the art and the stories – and be mobilized to individually and systemically support and be kinder to our youth.”
The exhibition is on view through May at Redwood City Public Library, 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City; Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday noon to 5 p.m.; upcoming discussions May 19 at 6 p.m. and May 20 at 5:30 p.m.; redwoodcity.org/departments/library/events/lost-childhoods.
