We look forward to having a campus of fine artist faculty working with 75 young artists, who are here to explore both familiar and brand new genres.
They will have 5 days of in-depth time in the studio to create new works and prepare a final presentation. The concentrated experience at Centrum is aimed at opening new pathways to creativity that provide life-long inspiration.
This summer at Centrum's High School Summer Arts Camp, the opportunity is there for youth to take their talents to a new level. Why not just take it to the top? Register today!
Award winning poet Gary Lilley says this about his workshop for high school students at Centrum:
"Poetry has informed all my other writing: the fiction, the plays, and the essays all benefit from the attention to details, to the visual, to the word. This workshop will meet students where they are, and watch how the writing, all writing, gains greater dimension. I feel comfortable working with students wherever they are. This is the place to jazz up narratives and create sharp, memorable images in a supportive workshop setting with other young aspiring writers."
Nicco Annan is a choreographer, actor, and educator. See the results of some of his work with teens in this clip from a show with youth from Urban Word NYC + Dance Theatre Workshop performing in New York City. Directed by Tamilla Woodard, with choreography by Nicco Annan, their piece is called: Break the Mirror, Break the Image, Break the Mic.
The video features "The Insides Ain't Pink Enough and Diary of a Young Black Girl ," performed by Marne Bruckner & Alexis Marie.
Nicco and Erwin Thomas will be joining forces this summer to create a week of living theatrical magic at Centrum. With the use of colorful contemporary poetry, monologue/dialogue, and song, explore the passion, expression and technique behind musical theater performance. In "Musical & Legit Theater," students will journey through script annalysis, voice, and movement for the stage using text and music from shows that focus on youth such as "Rent" "Runaways" and "Brooklyn".
More about High School Summer Arts Camp (and its instructors)...
After her show in Seattle's SOIL Gallery in March, Centrum HSSAC instructor Vesna Pavlovic (Photographic Storytelling) presented her work at the Thessaloniki Photo Biennial in Greece. Her "Search for Landscapes" project occupied an old train compartment at the Mylos Gallery. Vesna's August workshop at Centrum is gearing up to be an exciting exploration of place (Fort Worden State Park), specifics of the art of photography, and digital technologies.
Eco-Art Installation teacher Mandy Greer's huge installation piece, Mater Matrix Mother and Medium will be traveling to Issaquah later this summer after its most recent installation in Kent. Next year it travels to the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in NYC. In 2012, Mandy will be traveling with Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea to take Mater Mother Matrix and Medium to Mumbai, India! In January 2011 she has a solo show of installation, sculptures and narrative/cinematic photographs at Roc La Rue Gallery in Seattle. Join Mandy and learn about creating art far outside the ordinary.
We were incredibly impressed by the young artists who attended. Energy, creativity, fearlessness - all were on display.
A hearty 'thank you' to each of the students who came. However, we would also like to thank the teachers, parents, chaperones, school districts, and community groups who quite literally make our Young Artist Project workshops possible.
We think that community investment of this sort affirms the critical roles that art, creativity, and problem-solving play in our daily lives. Bravo!
You will see images of students, teachers and artists all working together to master Combat Resolution, African Dance, Juggling, Taiko, Visual Art and Creative Writing.
The week was deemed "an awesome week of a creative arts workshop" by Blue Heron seventh grade student Francois Ballou in his letter published in the Port Townsend Leader on April 14, 2010.
Reading through the evaluations, one of the high points of the week echoed by students and teachers was learning all new things that they had never tried before. One seventh grader wrote, "I loved being introduced to different cultures and forms of art. In African dance I loved being able to just let go and move. I enjoyed the mechanics in Gizmos, [the visual art class], the excitement and uniqueness of combat, and the challenge of juggling."
Thanks to all who made this week possible for Port Townsend's Blue Heron 7th grade students and their teachers.
We're excited to have Nanda on staff for the 2010 Young Artists Project. Their high-energy performances combine juggling, music, dance, stage combat, and much much more.
Currently Darwin Nordin is working on a series of intricate prints which continue to be inspired by observations of the natural world. Darwin is teaching visual art at Explorations and Water World.
Vesna Pavlovic's projects develop as anthropological studies, analyzing different cultures and their visual representations through particular phenomena. Vesna will be here this summer teaching photography at the High School Summer Arts Camp.
Mandy Greer has just completed work for “Zuster Sweostor Systir,” a companion show to her project from this past spring and summer “Mater Matrix Mother and Medium.” The show opens on First Thursday, February 4, 2010 at Ohge Ltd. Gallery in Seattle. At Explorations Mandy will show you how to transform a recycled piece of clothing into a costume, using all kinds of techniques not always considered "art."
Mandy Greer's room-size installation, Dare alla Luce, first appeared in 2008 at the Bellevue Arts Museum. In December, 2009, Dare alla Luce was exhibited in Miami at Aqua Art Miami Wynwood. Aqua Art Miami is a contemporary art fair that takes place in Miami concurrent with Art Basel Miami Beach.
Based in Seattle, Aqua's organizers have made it their mission to promote innovative programming from the west coast as well as the greater USA and abroad, with a particular interest in young dealers and galleries with strong emerging artist programs.
Greer is a mixed-media installation artist with an MFA from the University of Washington. Her most recent projects blend community, installation and performance.
The term “Craftivism” was coined to define a new movement of DIY (Do it Yourself) craft, activism and community. It is described as a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper and your quest for justice more infinite.
Greer says, "I make large installations that transform spaces into enchanted environments, creating full body experiences, like trespassing on a theatrical set. My current projects are about making visceral transitory states of the human emotional experience tangible through the overabundance of crocheted, knitted and sewn fabric."
Students who come to Centrum in 2010 have the opportunity to bring attention their ideas using materials in a DIY aesthetic and sculpting using found objects and papier mâché, basic crocheting and knitting, and simple sewing techniques. Mandy Greer is teaching at Explorations, March 7-12, 2010; Blue Heron Tales, Texts & Theater, March 29-April 2, 2010; and High School Summer Arts Camp, August 8-14, 2010.
The DANCE This camp at Centrum provides an opportunity for high-school aged dancers at all levels to study a wide range of styles and techniques in a supportive, yet challenging atmosphere. Seattle Theatre Group offers this residential version of their popular DANCE This program in partnership with Centrum at Fort Worden State Park.
Experience the whole range of workshop offerings—Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Salsa, African & special workshops—Each day is divided into four workshop sessions, with plenty of time for meals, exploring and rest. Each evening, you’ll work with a core artist faculty member—learning their choreography and developing your own. These sessions are followed by snacks and hang-out time in the dorm. At the end of the week, you can share your creative endeavors with the group and invited friends and family during a Saturday showcase.
WHO: The DANCE This Camp @ Centrum is open to students entering grades 9-12 in Fall 2009. We welcome students at ANY LEVEL of experience.
WHEN: August 2-8, 2009.
WHERE: Centrum @ Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA
Pictured is African Dance teacher Siya Manyakanyaka Kelly
Students at Centrum's Summer High School Arts Camp rehearse in Erwin Thomas' theater class.
Photo courtesy Kathie Meyer.
This Friday, June 26 there is a presentation of all the student work beginning at 7 p.m. in the JFK building at Fort Worden State Park. Friends and family are invited to see the results of a weeklong immersion in filmmaking, creative writing, sculpture and theater.
