2007 Youth Scholar — Abby Wheeler, Central Dauphin High School, Harrisburg, Pa.

Watch Abby’s music video, “This Boy,” which addresses gender stereotypes > >

“Abby is a leading voice in this community of young people who are engaged, challenging and questioning. Abby is passionate about civil rights and the empowerment of youth.”
—Nancy Hopkins,
Executive Director,
ACLU of Pennsylvania

Some of Abby’s works of art:

Learn about the other 2007 Youth Activist Scholarship winners > >

Abby traces her activism back to childhood, when she was concerned with saving the whales and pandas. She then became an avid advocate of recycling in junior high school. Also in junior high school, after feeling too censored by the school newspaper, Abby began an alternative online newspaper in support of the right to exercise free speech.

Now in high school, Abby is an accomplished artist who uses her talent to raise consciousness about women’s rights, gender identity, free speech and youth rights. She likes to work with fabric and sewing. Abby says that art should get people to think, not tell them what to think.

Abby is also President of the Youth Advisory Board of her local Youth Center. In that capacity, she helped organize and lead an all-day “Activist Show” which prefaced a trip to the World Can’t Wait protest in Washington, DC. Motivated by that show, Abby and a friend have been trying to create more of a community in the central Pennsylvania music scene. They are working to integrate spoken word, visual art, and film into local music events, and encouraging youths to become involved in creating active change.

Abby’s Personal Essay:

My mom says I’ve been an activist since I was in elementary school. Back then I was concerned with saving the whales and pandas and idealized Julia Butterfly Hill and sat in trees for hours after school. And if not then, it started in junior high when I was surprisingly avid about recycling for my age, writing letters to our principals and forming an onlime newspaper with my friends after being censored too much by the school newspaper. To me, this never really seemed like activism; it just seemed like what I needed to do at the time. Even now, I am surprised by my nomination for this scholarship. I don’t feel like an activist by name but suppose I am by nature.

I have volunteered at an all age venue called the Lower Paxton Youth Center for over three years and for two of those years I’ve been President of the Youth Advisory Board. We have music nights, movie screenings, vegan dinner and discussions, poetry readings, art shows, and a food panby. Through volunteering here and seeing the kids who are part of the Central PA music “scene,” I have become very concerned with youth rights and youth empowerment. We held an all day Activist Show last year that was entirely youth organized. It took place before the January World Can’t Wait protest in D.C. During the event thirteen bands played, we showed the Dissent episode of the Freedom Files, and Andy Hoover of the ACLU gave a talk back. The result was incredible; the youth who were present were focused and interacted passionately with our guest.

Motivated by the Activist Show, a friend of mine and I have been trying to create more of a community in the Central PA music scene. We hope to inspire the local youth to make their own fun, create their own sense of community, and form a positive place to interact with their peers. The two of us have been very influenced by DIY, do it yourself, ethics. The focus of DIY is to bring communities together by encouraging individuals to be self sufficient and rely on one another to trade resources. By using these DlY aesthetics we hope to teach local youth not only to tolerate, but to also appreciate and accept other genres of art and music. Right now, we’re attempting (with excellent results) to integrate spoken word, visual art, and film into the local music events, creating not just another show, but an experience. We want kids to realize that they should become part of local events, that they can share their talents and use the community that we are creating as a collaborative forum for active change.

Much of my personal art is concerned with gender stereotyping and gender issues. When we do spoken word at the youth center’s music events I to talb about my opinions and perception of being a girl. I am not necessarily an advocate for women’s empowerment; I’d rather promote equality than anythimg else. I also acknowledge gender in my visual art. I like to work with fabric and sewing as my medium of choice. I’m trying to use this medium, which already has gender standards attached to it, to overcome those principles and to create a more open minded stance on gender.

A few months ago a friend and I became concerned with our mental environment. We felt, and still do feel, that art can be used to bring people back into their immediate environment. We believe that too much of our brain space is taken up by advertisements which can’t allow our imaginations to develop and grow. We put up small signs hoping to initiate a cycle where people respond and react to them either mentally (thinking about and forming opinions of them) or physically (putting up another sign, writing on them, or taking them down). Some of our signs were concerned with gender, featuring girls cut from sewing patterns with their eyes and chests crossed out. Others acted as social commentary on the Bush administration while a few were left blank, meant for the viewer to fill in. By having art that is telling you to think, not what to think, it makes the public more conscious of their surroundings. Our pieces were concerned with gender, censorship, and the need for social commentary.

In the future I hope to inspire others to realize that each individual needs to be her or his own leader, to take responsibility and pool their resources to make the community work. In turn, the community needs to be strong to support and stimulate the individual. I want the response/reaction cycle, as porhayed in my art, to promote positive change. I believe my generation can overcome its “lazy” stereotype by being more active in working together and encouraging each other to take an enthusiastic part in our society.