YWP’s hub of inspiration: All our challenges are here!
Challenges
Weekly
Visual Art
Deadline
Fish
Create a painting or photograph of one fish or a school of fish. You can focus on one type of fish or a mixture. Realistic or fanciful. Think about detail, color, and shape in this appreciation of fish.
Writing
Deadline
Fairytale
Create your own fairytale. Whose perspective is it told from? What magical creatures might be in your story? What is the climax? How does it end?
Writing
Deadline
Music
Write about your favorite song or piece. How does it make you feel? What do you see in your head when you listen to it? What exactly makes that song or piece your favorite? (Challenge created by nimbostratus, YWP)
Tomorrow Project
Writing
Rosa Parks
Consider the gains made in civil rights by heroes such as Rosa Parks who refused to accept Jim Crow segregation and bravely acted on her belief that "all people should be free, regardless of their color." Share your thoughts about civil rights today.
Writing
Who and Why?
Who are you, and why are you here?
Writing
Walk for Peace
Share your thoughts about the Buddhist monks who walked from Texas to Washington — 2,300 miles over 108 days — to raise awareness about peace and compassion.
Great Artists
Visual Art
Simon Beck
On frozen lakes and sandy beaches, Simon Beck makes beautiful art that lasts only until the next snowfall or rising tide takes it away.
Visual Art
Jacob Lawrence
During the civil rights movement in the mid-1950s, this leading Black artist re-examined early American history through radical art.
Visual Art
Jeffrey Gibson
Native American artist combines an abundance of color with messages of freedom, human rights, and struggle.
Great Writers
Writing
Cornelius Eady
Cornelius Eady tells the truth about the world through poetry, says New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who asked the poet to write and read a poem for his inauguration. Eady's recent poetry also includes a tribute to Renee Nicole Good.
Writing
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was the first Black woman to be awarded the Nobel laureate in literature. Her unvarnished exploration of Black identity in America brought her worldwide acclaim. Have you read her work?
Writing
Mary Oliver
Clear, evocative, simply beautiful – words that describe this poet's work.
Online Workshops
Visual Art
Photo Workshop: Lighting
Lighting is crucial in photography as it defines the appearance, mood, and texture of the subject, ultimately shaping the visual impact of the photograph. Join photographer and YWP alumni Kevin Huang for this online workshop.
Visual Art
Photo Workshop: Composition
Composition is one of the key elements of photography. Learn more about composition in this online workshop.
Writing
Writing Workshop: Free Verse Poetry
Free verse is freeing! You can write any way you like, break lines wherever you decide, and end a poem whenever you want.
Contests
Visual Art
Deadline
Winter 2026 Art Contest
With your artist's eye, observe, interpret, and create. Choose a subject — an everyday object, a person, a landscape — and give yourself time and space to study it. Use the medium of your choice to convey the subject the way you uniquely see it.
Opinion & Commentary
Writing
Tomorrow Project: Opinion Writing and Art
Write and create art about democracy, human rights, our communities, and the planet.
Learn More
Writing
YWP is ...
In a sentence or two, what does YWP mean to you? What impact does it have on your life? We'd love to pass your comments along to the good people whose donations keep YWP running! Please tell us so we can tell them! YWP is ...
Learn More
Writing
Wonder
What is something that makes you stop and wonder.
Learn More