"Youth" remains a symbolic source of investment in society at large: both perceived as a social problem in need of remediation, and seen as a potential source of social change, leading generational renewal. Contemporary youth culture literature is often still bifurcated between analyses of the ways that young people are disempowered by our contemporary neoliberal climate or celebrations of them as instigators of social change, without thorough examinations of barriers and challenges. Here, the author turns to the community youth arts sector, investigating the potentials and limitations of different models of engaging youth in this sector, ultimately suggesting the need for new frameworks that incubate youth creativity. The author provides an overview of different models and rationales for working with youth in community settings, including youth engagement and social justice, ultimately forwarding an incubator model for working with youth. The author highlights other roles and values of community youth arts beyond career incubation, suggesting that career development might be one element of a fully realized self that community arts can help scaffold. Through the funding and the employment that they offer to youth and in particular to marginalized youth, community youth arts programs can offer meaningful supports to youth who aspire to creative careers. Making funding available for youth to run their own programs and projects is a vital way for youth to develop skills and experiences to incubate their careers.