On February 20th, the Spring 2018 session of CAL’s signature youth program ArtWorks began. Forty high school students from cities across Cuyahoga County were selected to participate in four co-ops highlighting an assortment of visual and performing arts disciplines:
Film
Teaching artist: Lakewood Young Filmmakers Academy
Apprentices are studying the history of film to develop an understanding of their own artistic voice. They are also studying the aspects of making a feature length film including screenwriting, behind the camera work, direction, and editing while making a film they can be proud to include on their own demo reel.
Japanese Poetry/Drawing
Teaching artist: Tim Geaghan
Apprentices have the opportunity to see where manga comes from. They are exploring the depths of their own true, free voice while writing Japanese poems (but not the Haikus one may have written in middle school). Apprentices are drawing with bamboo sticks while exploring the line from their heart, to their lungs, to their voice. This line starts with words and ends in images to create a shape for their lives.
Theater/Acting
Teaching artist: Ray McNiece
Apprentices are using their voice, body, and personal experience to create 10-minute plays adapting traditional folk tales to the stage. They are learning the foundational techniques of acting as well as bringing their own voice to the table to create their own storytelling narratives focusing on the arc of their play. This co-op is focused not only on the performance of a piece, but also the process necessary to bring theater to life.
Visual Arts/Mixed Media
Teaching artist: Shelly Svonavec
Apprentices are exploring their personal identify through memory, beliefs, emotions, obstacles, character values, imagination and experience to develop their artistic voice. They are developing a daily ritual of inspiration which will work with learned visual arts techniques to create a collaborative piece using their own innovative techniques. This co-op focuses on finding one’s personal path to their creative process rather than following the “rules” that previously may have been set for them.
Check back to this blog to find out more about ArtWorks and our spring apprentices. Also join us on May 10th from 6 - 8pm for ArtWorks Live!, a free public showcase of the apprentices’ original artwork.