Our Youth Arts Council (YAC) presents Reprogrammed, a mix of imagery, creative writing, and an interactive art installation. As the world approached the one-year anniversary of the official declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic, YAC took time to reflect on and respond to the strangest year of their lives.

Located in The Warhol Green Space outdoors, Reprogrammed is the result of the group’s need to release the emotions, sensations, and memories that they are still actively processing. Centered around the idea of responding to constant change and the need to adapt, students compiled a word bank to use as the foundation of their creative projects. Visual artists transformed images that highlighted their pandemic experience into bold designs that mimic Andy Warhol’s silkscreen prints of the 1960s. In an accompanying publication available for free on-site, students compiled a collection of poetry, short stories, interviews, and essays that invites the reader to confront and question this new normal from the lens of a Pittsburgh area teen. Visitors are invited to interact with a physical word bank provided in the exhibition space.