Introduction: Adolescents in Colombia navigate a complex web of structural, family, and urban violence. Faced with this reality, which demands responses beyond traditional interventions, the 'Conversations in the Garden' project stands as a model of performative social practice, based on the premise that language —and, by extension, the arts— has the intrinsic capacity to transform reality. Purpose: To promote recognition of adolescents' experiences about their emotions, their bodies, their civic participation, and their plans for the future. Method: This project employs a mixed research platform with a strong qualitative emphasis, utilizing Arts-Based Research, which involves implementing various creative strategies and expressions, including collage, music, drawing, short storytelling, and painting. The project involves 250 vulnerable adolescents who study at a public educational institution in the city of Neiva, Colombia. Analyses are conducted based on the participants' narratives and artistic processes, with a predominant focus on Thematic Analysis. Results: The artistic practices implemented have strengthened communication processes and brought to light the experiences of violence that adolescents live, such as domestic violence, bullying, and insecurity in public spaces. It demonstrates that art is a mechanism to alleviate discomfort, express pain, make visible injustices, and propose individual and collective care strategies. Conclusions: 'Conversations in the Garden' advances a strategy to transform conversations into a therapeutic act of agency and empowerment, forging a more dignified and just reality for future generations.