SCCC hosts Teen Arts Festival

| 27 Feb 2018 | 01:54

    — Sussex County Community College is proud to showcase the arts during the 2018 Sussex County Teen Arts Festival scheduled for Tuesday, March 20.
    Students from schools throughout Sussex County will assemble at SCCC for the day celebrating creative writing, dance, instrumental music, theater, film making, visual art, and vocal music. Students will be able to participate in workshops, demonstrations and performances that will take place throughout the day. Performances will be critiqued by professionals from the tristate area. The art exhibit is open to the public March 14 through March 21 during college hours.
    It is expected that between 1,200–1,400 7th through 12th grade students will participate in the event, which runs from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. The Teen Arts Festival is open to registered schools and the parents of students from those schools.
    The Teen Arts Festival has been made possible through funding from SCCC, School Districts of Sussex County, and donations from the Aeroflex foundation, individuals and businesses. Funding has been available in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through the State/County Partnership Block Grant program, administered by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council.
    Throughout the day, a variety of workshops are open to students. Dozens of professional artists will provide instruction and demonstration of their crafts including African drumming, mime performance, poetry, juggling, photography, hip hop dance, ceramic arts, wood turning, blacksmithing, weaving and much more!
    “This is a unique opportunity for this large number of teens to come together in an environment of vibrant and bustling creative activity,” said Mitzi Campbell, Coordinator of Sussex County Teen Arts at SCCC. “This festival serves to inspire creative thought and engage eager minds. It is a wonderful day of active engagement by students, artists, teachers, parents, community members, volunteers and SCCC staff.”
    The Visual Arts and Video evening reception will be held on Wednesday, March 21 from 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. On view will be all of the student artwork submitted by schools, with 2-D and 3-D pieces displayed campus wide. In the ensuing weeks, student artwork selected by professional artists will be showcased at various locations around the county.
    “Selected student works for the exhibits represent a range of talent,” said Trikouros. “We are always delighted by the depth of artistic expression shown by our local teens.” Students will be selected by the artists to represent Sussex at the State Teen Arts Festival May 30 through June 1. The State Teen Arts Festival will be offering scholarships to outstanding student artists.
    Sussex County students first participated in the State Teen Arts Festival in 1969. SCCC has sponsored the Teen Arts Festival in Sussex County since 1989. For more information on the day’s events, contact Mitzi Campbell at SCCC.
    SCCC provides an affordable, high quality education in a broad range of fields of interest. For more information about SCCC and its degree and non-degree programs, visit sussex.edu.