Teen artists portrayed their lives — some adults didn't want to see the full picture
toggle caption Betty Shanefelter/Montgomery County Public Schools' Visual Art Center
"What is it like to be a teen right now?"
This summer, teen artists explored that question in two separate showings of their work: "The Teen Experience," currently at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C., and at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, where this year's theme was "Youth and the Future of Culture."
In both cases, the teens were told to create honest portrayals of their lives and the issues they face, but they found out that some people didn't want to see the full picture.
Through paintings, drawings, mixed media and life-size installations, the artists depicted a range of subjects — self-doubt, school lockdowns, protests, living through a pandemic and learning to drive, among them.
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The organization that connects these two events is the Museum of Contemporary American Teenagers (MoCAT), which doesn't have its own physical space but
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