YOUNGSTOWN - Fifteen young artists in the Inspiring Minds Youngstown Scholars program put their creativity on display Saturday during the Black Artist Art Show at the Michael Kusalaba Library on Mahoning Avenue. 

Inside the library visitors were greeted by bright paintings, detailed drawings and original poetry, all created by students from the Mahoning Valley.

For many of them, the event was about more than art. It was an opportunity to share their voices. 

Fifteen-year-old CJ Hall has written several poems, a practice he says gives him a creative outlet

"The things that inspired my pieces was just writing down my thought, writing about how I feel on a day-to-day basis and I just transformed it into a poem," Hall said.
 

Program leaders believe arts education plays an important role in communities where creative opportunities can be limited in the classroom. They believe artistic expression helps students grow in ways standardized testing cannot measure. 

"First, it promotes critical thinking skills. It gives them the [ability] to produce work that has no strict criteria to it. It also supports their social and emotional learning," Inspiring Minds Youngstown program coordinator, Tammye Hardin said. 

The Inspiring Minds Youngstown Scholars art will remain on display throughout February at the library in celebration of Black History Month.