Creative Resident Jamie Laurie collaborated with teens from Synergy – an outpatient substance abuse rehabilitation program, over the course 7 weeks in workshops exploring Hip Hop as a powerful tool in self-expression. Teens created original lyrics and poetry for a mix of recorded audio collage. Through this process, they examined contemporary themes in rap music and compared them to songs from the African-American Freedom movement. They also created powerful written expressions for the walls of PlatteForum as a backdrop to their live performance on August 11, 2006.

Jamie Laurie is an artist/musician who regularly performs through the Denver Metro area and in Rhode Island. He has worked with underserved and at-risk youth over the past 5 years and is currently a full time tutor/mentor at East High School. He has worked with such organizations and on special projects for the Veterans of Hope Project at Iliff School of Theology in Denver and Youth in Action and Youth Pride in Rhode Island. He is also fluent in Spanish and Japanese and maintains a basic proficiency in American Sign Language.