Vine Corps at Interaction Design and Children Conference 

VineCorps is a comprehensive youth development organization that bridges systemic opportunity gaps while promoting health and wellbeing by building community hubs of connection, action and growth for teens in under-served areas of PG County. A group of 10 VineCorps students, in collaboration with UMD iSchool PhD students for the past year and a half as a Teen Co-Design Team, have had their research accepted to the DEMO and Art Track of the Interaction Design and Children Conference at Northwestern University in June! Their digital visual art project, Team Unified, explores how young people experience various technologies in their lives. We are excitedly seeking funding from Tour de Force DC to support trip costs to attend the conference from June 19th-June 23rd and ensure that each student can participate and join their counterparts in presenting their research and work using a variety of artistic media. Providing our young people with the opportunity to present their digital art project validates that their voices are invaluable in the creation of something new, and within academia. Not only will it be a transformational experience filled with the added bonus of exposure to all things Chicago, including the Art Institute, but it will also reinforce that a community approach to co-design allows them to make sustainable and equitable change in their lives, their Prince George’s County communities, and the world.