San Diego County Art

Directing Change is an evaluated suicide prevention and mental health program with the mission to educate young people about critical health topics through art and promote social justice and health by changing conversations in schools and communities.
2024

Café De Olla

Second Place Hope and Justice Summer Contest
2024
Artist: Julieta Garcia
San Diego County
Grade: College
University of California - San Diego
Advisor: N/A
When I think of self-care and taking care of my mental health, I connect my experience to my family. We learn a lot–most times unknowingly– about how to go through ...

Finding Strength

Third Place Monthly Prompt - High School
2024
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 11
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Holly Emmert

My poem paints a picture of finding refuge in nature’s embrace, seeking solace beneath the starry sky, losing oneself in the world of literature, and finding comfort in the arms ...

I’m Sorry to Bother You

Third Place Monthly Prompt - High School
2024
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 12
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Holly Emmert

I wrote about the worries of a person in need. I wrote what they think or might be thinking when they ask for help.

I Wish

Second Place Tied Monthly Prompt - PSAs, Original Music, Podcasts, and Written Work - High School and College
2024
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 12
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Holly Emmert

My poem addresses the universal theme of the accepting mistakes and the burden of perfection, as well as expressing a desire for reassurance and care. I wanted to capture the ...

2023

Embrace the Light Within

First Place Hope and Justice
2023
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 11
Advisor: Holly Emmert

My entry is a poetic journey through the complex and often challenging landscape of mental health. It begins in the quiet recesses of the mind, acknowledging the intricate and vast ...

A Walk in the Garden

Honorable Mention Monthly Prompt - Original Music
2023
Artist: Carrianne Bee
San Diego County
Grade: 9
Advisor: Michelle Tolvo-Chan

Writing and playing music allows me to feel at peace. It allows me to connect to my true self and to God. When I play, there is a sense of ...

S.T.O.P

Second Place Monthly Prompt - Film & Written Works
2023
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 11
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Holly Emmert

“I wanted to emphasize the importance of the beauty of nature. There’s so much tranquility in our world, and I know that if we took the time to appreciate it, ...

To be Okay

Honorable Mention Monthly Prompt - Written Works
2023
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 10
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Jennifer Cammack

In this entry, I was hoping to convey a sense of anxiety, struggle, and the difficulty of maintaining a facade of happiness despite inner turmoil. I wanted to show different ...

You matter

Honorable Mention Monthly Prompt - Written Works
2023
Artist: Eloise herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 8
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Belinda herrera

This writing is dedicated to my mothers friend. My mothers friend has a daughter and she has cancer. I hope she sees this. I want her to know that she ...

Will you braid the Earth’s hair, too?

Honorable Mention April Hope and Justice
2023
Artist: Anonymous
San Diego County
Grade: College

This piece is a celebration of Earth and our relationship with it. Our relationship to the Earth is integral to how we can hope for better and even do better– ...

Our Responsibility to the Earth

Honorable Mention April Monthly Prompt
2023
Artist: Joy Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 11
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Jennifer Cammack

In this entry, I wanted to discuss how we can best take care of the earth and how our planet is our biggest responsibility. I chose this category because I’m ...

Ode to Earth

Second Place - Tied April Monthly Prompt
2023
Artist: Eloise Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 8
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Jennifer Cammack

In this submission, I wrote an Ode to Earth, hoping to let my audience know just how sorry I am for the mistakes of humanity done to earth. Through this ...

Colors of Mexico

Honorable Mention Monthly Prompt - Visual Art - Middle School 
2023
Artist: Aylee Martinez
San Diego County
Grade: 6
Gompers Preparatory Academy
Advisor: Elvira Barajas

To start off with My name is Aylee Martinez and I chose to use canva and I decided to show on my project the even if your Any different culture ...

Frida Khalo

Honorable Mention Monthly Prompt - Visual Art - Middle School 
2023
Artist: Samantha Villanueva
San Diego County
Grade: 6
Gompers Preparatory Academy
Advisor: Elvira Barajas

My art entry is a picture that honors Frida Kahlo. She was really special because even though she had a lot of problems when she was young, she grew up ...

First I’m Human

First Place Monthly Prompt - Film and Written Works
2023
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 10
Sweetwater Secondary School
Advisor: Jennifer Cammack

In this submission, I wanted to show how I can be more than one especially if it involves my race. I’m Mexican-American and have always been torn apart by both ...

A Fresh Start

Third Place - Tied Monthly Prompt
2023
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 10
Sweetwater Secondary School
Advisor: Jennifer Cammack

“In this entry, I opened a veil that concealed the events that drowned humanity in despair. I wanted to show the cuts we were given as well as the band-aids ...

2022

The Hero in You

Honorable Mention Monthly Prompt - Film and Written Works
2022
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 10
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Jennifer Cammack

This piece is a poem that shows how a person’s negative feelings only dig them deeper. but I also wanted to show that our confidence and our positivity lifts us ...

Save Yourself

Honorable Mention Monthly Prompt - Film and Written Works
2022
Artist: Anonymous
San Diego County

I decided to write about this entry because I think it’s important to have plenty of awareness towards mental health. I found it a bit easy to write about this ...

Reggie; Our Mentor

Second Place - Tied Monthly Prompt - Art
2022
Artist: Sierra Mercedes Adele Craft Wiseman and Andrew Alexander Hermosillo
San Diego County
Grade: 12
General Raymond Murray High School
Advisor: Beatriz Barrón

Reggie is the CEO/founder of Project Aware, a program that helps kids learn to cope with their emotions. There are thousands of things I could say about this amazing man. ...

Callused Hands

First Place Monthly Prompt - Film and Written Works
2022
Artist: Joslyn Herrera
San Diego County
Grade: 10
Sweetwater Secondary
Advisor: Jennifer Cammack

This entry is a dedication to my mom. I wanted to tell the story of her struggles and how much I really appreciate her. Her selflessness is something I want ...

Justice for Hope

Honorable Mention Hope and Justice
2022
Artist: Jackson Ellis
San Diego County
Grade: 9
Helix Charter High School
Advisor: Alondra Lopez-Barajas

I drew this during the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID lockdown. It gave my little sister and I the chance to spend time together and bond during a challenging ...

Focus On You!

3rd place May 2022 Monthly Prompt “Dear Me”
2022
Artist: Diana Butchert
San Diego County
Grade: 8
Emerald Middle School
Advisor: Ashley Maher

My drawing represents an image of me reading and drinking water which shows how I am taking care of myself to cope with mental health. I have a dog named ...

“Burned Out”

3rd Place Monthly Prompt April - Cannabis Decoded
2022
Artist: Sara Croll
San Diego County
Grade: 7
Rancho Minerva
Advisor: Beth Duncan

“Burned Out” tells the story of two childhood friends, one healthy and happy, and the other under the influence of cannabis. Their relationship used to be filled with trust, good ...

Black Lives Matter

2nd place Justice - March 2022
2022
Artist: Meliya Russom
San Diego County
Grade: 12
The Preuss School
Advisor: Amanda Torre

I wrote this poem after the murder of George Floyd and the rise in the Black Lives Matter movements across the US. I decided to write a poem because it ...

Hope to Hug

January Hope 2nd Place
2022
Artist: Sara Croll
San Diego County
Grade: 7
Rancho Minerva Middle School
Advisor: Beth Duncan 

2021 was a year without hugs. It denied us of smiles, and it denied us the ability to personally connect with one another. This new year I hope to see ...

2021

Hope Within My Walls

2021
Artist: Brittney Ruby Duran
San Diego County
Grade: College Freshman
California State University of San Marcos
Advisor: Danielle McMartin

My visual art is a representation of how I find hope and brightness in today’s events. I feel safe and hopeful within a creative environment. I love to paint and ...

Not Enough

2021
Artist: Abigail Liao
San Diego County
Grade: 9
Torrey Pines High School
Advisor: Katie O'Brien

Through social media, peers, and ourselves, we often fall into a loop of our appearance, being controlled by our looks and body shape. I often hear people say that they ...

Alive Again

3rd place April 2021 Montly Prompt: "Hope for Change"
2021
Artist: Katrina Matic
San Diego County
Grade: 11
Torrey Pines Highschool
Advisor: Dragana Matic

Since the young age of eleven, mental health has been a large impacter in my life. I didn’t plan on making it to sixteen. That was never my plan. There ...

Family is my Hope

Honorable Mention April 2021 Montly Prompt: "Hope for Change"
2021
Artist: Cristo Juarez
San Diego County
Grade: 8
Rancho Minerva Middle School
Advisor: Beth Duncan

My submission relates to hope because it represents what has helped me and been there for me through the difficult changes this past year. It’s what matters the most to ...

Seasons of Change

Honorable Mention April 2021 Montly Prompt: "Hope for Change"
2021
Artist: Daniela Carrasco
San Diego County
Grade: 7
Rancho Minerva Middle School
Advisor: Beth Duncan

Like flowers growing back after a hard winter, we will also come back after experiencing the stress of a global pandemic. As flowers represent new beginnings and springtime, the green ...

#HopeforChange

Honorable Mention April 2021 Montly Prompt: "Hope for Change"
2021
Artist: Kimberly Gomez
San Diego County
Grade: 8
Rancho Minerva Middle School
Advisor: Beth Duncan

The concept of growth and change is a desire to become a better version of yourself. Growth in yourself leads you to new opportunities, opportunities that don’t come about until ...

Embrace

2021
Artist: Maggie Cesarini
San Diego County
Grade: 12
Torrey Pines High School
Advisor: Katie O’brien

“A single, overworked father contemplates his gratitude for his good fortune amid relentless uncertainty, as he whispers to his child: ‘Let compassion always guide you on your journey.’’’

Parents

2021
Artist: Julia Liu
San Diego County
Grade: 11
Torrey Pines High School
Advisor: Mengping Ou

“My piece is a traditional Chinese brush painting on rice paper. I focused on the importance of hair, which is significant in showing who I am, and my identity as ...

This is 2020

Honorable Mention January 2021 - Hope and Justice
2021
Artist: Taravat Mansournia
San Diego County
Grade: 10
Point Loma High School
Advisor: Katereh Mirza

Every human being in the year 2020 has felt the wide effects of injustice and hopelessness, and I wanted to write something that I can look look back on if ...

Hope Poem

November Hope and Justice Honorable Mention
2021
Artist: Sophia Rodriguez
San Diego County
San Ysidro High School
Advisor: Lolit Romero

The Cat

2021
Artist: Nathalia Wittlin
San Diego County
Grade: 12
Torrey Pines High School
Advisor: Jose Paulo Wittlin

In my artwork, I incorporated the world throughout the vision of a black cat. The people looking out of the art piece are the viewers that can only see half ...

Relief for the Chained

2021
Artist: Nivi Chozhan
San Diego County
Grade: 9
Torrey Pines High School
Advisor: Alli Chozhan

My painting shows the injustice within the world and a dove is blooming out of the center of the earth. People are kind people as long as we try to ...