In anticipation of next month's SaratogaArtsFest, running from June 11 through 14, organizers at Lake Avenue Elementary School on Monday revealed a new initiative geared towards engaging younger students in the local arts community.
"Today we can announce the extraordinarily exciting, important and
powerful initiative - Project YES," Marie Glotzbach, president on the
board of directors for SaratogaArtsFest said. Project YES, which is new
to the arts festival this year, stands for Youth Experiencing
SaratogaArtsFest. "We recognize that our audiences of tomorrow are
coming from our students of today. So we feel that it's very important,
and our mission is... to bring the ArtsFest to students in our Saratoga
schools," Glotzbach said.
As part of the initiative, 250 passes will be given out to students in the Saratoga Springs City School District, allowing them free access to over 100 events held in 54 different venues, featuring live music, dance, film, fine arts and literary arts. Each pass also comes with a voucher allowing parents to purchase one ticket at a 50 percent discount to accompany their child with. Students can apply for the free passes by filling out a form available in each school's main office and on the school district's website at www.saratogaschools.org. Appli-cations must be turned in to the school's main office by May 18. Winners will be announced on May 20.
"The arts are in trouble in our society," Lew Titterton, the board consultant for SaratogaArtsFest said. "We've had operas go under, we've had some of the oldest theaters in the country go under. But ArtsFests are bright and shining stars. They're great successes, and they really bring people in.
Titterton is concerned that if there isn't a serious effort to engage children in the arts at an early age, an entire generation could easily become alienated and disinterested with the entire field. And Titterton isn't the only one. Janice White, superintendent of Saratoga Springs School District, realizes just how important art in a young student's life can be.
"The arts in education really forms a basis for a student's interests, the context for which students develop a passion for a lot of other things. There's certainly a lot of research that says students who are engaged in artistic endeavors also perform well academically," White said. "Participation in the arts requires practice, requires some sense of rigor and routine. All of those things go to benefit a student in their academic life as well. It's a symbiotic relationship."
To kick off Project YES, two artists featured in the upcoming ArtsFest, Carolyn Justice and Mary DiSanto-Rose, lead hands-on workshops for the students at Lake Avenue Elementary in drawing and in dance, respectively. One such student able to take advantage of the workshops was Emi, a kindergartner at the school busily drawing a jungle leopard under Justice's guidance.
"I like art class," Emi said as she carefully drew another spot on her leopard. "This is my first time drawing animals. Usually I draw family portraits," she explained. "I like drawing animals."
For more information on SaratogaArtsFest including a schedule of events, information on purchasing passes, or further details on Project YES, interested parties are encouraged to visit the organization's Web site at www.saratogaartsfest.org.
SaratogaArtsFest will also hold a book fair at Barnes & Nobel, Route 50, Wilton, on Sunday, May 17 from 12 to 4 p.m. The event will help raise funds for the annual citywide celebration of the arts.
As part of the initiative, 250 passes will be given out to students in the Saratoga Springs City School District, allowing them free access to over 100 events held in 54 different venues, featuring live music, dance, film, fine arts and literary arts. Each pass also comes with a voucher allowing parents to purchase one ticket at a 50 percent discount to accompany their child with. Students can apply for the free passes by filling out a form available in each school's main office and on the school district's website at www.saratogaschools.org. Appli-cations must be turned in to the school's main office by May 18. Winners will be announced on May 20.
"The arts are in trouble in our society," Lew Titterton, the board consultant for SaratogaArtsFest said. "We've had operas go under, we've had some of the oldest theaters in the country go under. But ArtsFests are bright and shining stars. They're great successes, and they really bring people in.
Titterton is concerned that if there isn't a serious effort to engage children in the arts at an early age, an entire generation could easily become alienated and disinterested with the entire field. And Titterton isn't the only one. Janice White, superintendent of Saratoga Springs School District, realizes just how important art in a young student's life can be.
"The arts in education really forms a basis for a student's interests, the context for which students develop a passion for a lot of other things. There's certainly a lot of research that says students who are engaged in artistic endeavors also perform well academically," White said. "Participation in the arts requires practice, requires some sense of rigor and routine. All of those things go to benefit a student in their academic life as well. It's a symbiotic relationship."
To kick off Project YES, two artists featured in the upcoming ArtsFest, Carolyn Justice and Mary DiSanto-Rose, lead hands-on workshops for the students at Lake Avenue Elementary in drawing and in dance, respectively. One such student able to take advantage of the workshops was Emi, a kindergartner at the school busily drawing a jungle leopard under Justice's guidance.
"I like art class," Emi said as she carefully drew another spot on her leopard. "This is my first time drawing animals. Usually I draw family portraits," she explained. "I like drawing animals."
For more information on SaratogaArtsFest including a schedule of events, information on purchasing passes, or further details on Project YES, interested parties are encouraged to visit the organization's Web site at www.saratogaartsfest.org.
SaratogaArtsFest will also hold a book fair at Barnes & Nobel, Route 50, Wilton, on Sunday, May 17 from 12 to 4 p.m. The event will help raise funds for the annual citywide celebration of the arts.
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