Teen Arts Festival

 THE HEART OF A TEEN ARTS FESTIVAL

Workshops and Critiques
 

The Teen Arts Festival provides a forum for students, ages 13 to 19, to explore their creative visions in the areas of Dance, Drama, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Creative Writing, Film and Video and the Visual Arts. Students learn through workshops, master classes and performance critiques, all of which provide positive exposure to the arts with the guidance of educators and professional artists.

Workshops with master artists provide enrichment opportunities, skill refinement and technique feedback for the more advanced student.  Through performances and the critiquing process, students receive feedback to help them evaluate their accomplishments, guidance to direct future development and insight into the creative process.

Artists are hired to work with students based upon artistic excellence including outstanding talent, knowledge, reputation and ability to communicate enthusiastically with teenagers.

 Workshops

A workshop artist is a teaching artist, sensitive to the abilities and the needs of teenagers. In addition to having a talent and skill they are willing to share, they are patient, enthusiastic and positive communicators.

Provide quality educational experiences for students with professional artists

·         Are interactive

·         Allow participants to explore an art form in non-threatening, non-competitive ways

·         Convey knowledge and skills in the execution of an art form

·         Challenge the skills and creativity of the student

 Critiques

An artist who is hired to critique has the responsibility of offering constructive feedback, both verbally and in writing, for the benefit of the student, their teacher and observers in attendance. A critique should praise specific aspects of the performer’s talent which shows promise, creativity and ingenuity and recommend new ways of thinking about those aspects of the presentation which are in need of further development.

Verbal critiques must be given with the utmost of sensitivity, conscious of their public nature and the significant impact it can have on the future artistic development of a young artist. A critique must never embarrass or discourage. It should encourage a student to continue to purse their vision, offering appropriate guidance.

 The critique is

·         The main building block of the Teen Arts experience

·         An evaluation of the artistic abilities of an individual student or group, given by a professional artist whose knowledge and experience in an art form is highly respected

·         Insightful, constructive and non-threatening; an educationally rewarding experience

·         An opportunity for student to gain a broader understanding and perspective of their work or presentation relative to the larger art community

·         Offered both verbally and written.