Young Artists at Centrum

YOUNG ARTISTS PROJECT 2010

2009-08-26T11:58:18-07:00

Pictured is Etienne Cakpo, dancing with students during Explorations, 2009.

In 2010 Centrum's Young Artists Project continues to offer dynamic creative experiences for elementary, middle and high school students. Professional artist faculty engage young artists in the world of arts and ideas, promote creative risk-taking; and teach best professional practices. These vital, contemporary artists guide and inspire young artists. The weeklong residential experience is one of intense immersion—practicing, listening, conversing, drawing, sculpting, painting, dancing, performing, writing, and reading.

EXPLORATIONS    March 7-12, 2010

Multi-cultural fine and performing arts for middle-school students. Designed to mesh with seventh-grade social studies curricula. To include: visual art, Japanese taiko, theater, creative writing, African dance, and circus arts.

BLUE HERON TALES, TEXTS & THEATER    March 29-April 2, 2010

An extraordinary partnership between Centrum and Blue Heron Middle School (Port Townsend, WA) , in which the entire seventh grade at BHMS comes to Centrum for week of full immersion in the arts.

WATER WORLD    May 2-7, 2010

An integration of the arts with science for elementary students in grades 5-6. Water World has a curriculum that rotates through a two-year cycle and features a hands-on, in-depth program of visual art, dance and writing, integrated with marine science.

WHALE CAMP    July 11-17, 2010
Middle school students join artists and scientists for a week focused on whales in Puget Sound. With the arrival of a new orca skeleton at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center comes a brand new collaboration between Centrum and PTMSC. Hands-on science and art.
HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER ARTS CAMP    August 8-14, 2010

High school students choose a concentration from multiple genres. Focus for an entire week on filmmaking, visual art, music, creative writing, or theater, working with inspirational professional mentors.

DANCE This    August 8-14, 2010

For high schools students, Seattle Theatre Group partners with Centrum in presenting a residential week of dance. Experience ballet, modern, jazz, hip hop, salsa and funk along with choreography classes taught by top professional dancers.   DANCE This is for all levels of dancers.

COMING SOON! Dance This at Centrum

2009-07-20T14:15:00-07:00

August 2-8, 2009.....Immerse yourself in dance!

LAST CHANCE! Registration closes soon!

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

High School Artists present

2009-06-25T11:08:48-07:00

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.

Actors! Take note

2009-06-03T09:43:20-07:00

This year as actor Erwin Thomas has kept me informed about his work in theater, I have been amazed at the variety of projects he takes on. Erwin lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Last August 2008, Thomas directed “Roots, Rhythm & Revolution, A One Person Exploration of Past, Present and Purpose” written and performed by Wema Harris.

That was followed in September, by his work in a ground-breaking play at Performance Space 122. Thomas Bradshaw's “Southern Promises,” directed by Jose Zayas made the theater world in New York stand up and take notice. It was reviewed in both the New York Times and the New Yorker. The play didn’t mince words/situations. It tackled uncomfortable issues head on.

Late September found Thomas at the Historic St. Paul Community Baptist Church with a performance of a piece he wrote called “Quiet Violence of Dreams.” The play was directed by Jesse Wooden Jr. and performed by Thomas and Evan Flory-Barns. It was part of St. Paul’s “Commemoration of the MAAFA.” MAAFA is a Kisawahili term that refers to the catastrophic experience formerly known as the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade that resulted in the kidnap, torture, and enslavement of millions of African People.

October brought a reading of a new play by Shontina Vernon. Erwin was in the cast of “A Lovely Malfunction" at New Federal Theatre's “Theatre 80” on St. Marks Place and 1st Ave.

As the year turned to 2009, I received a message from Erwin noting a tangible feeling of growth and rebirth in the air. Thomas was in a staged reading of “The Children of Children Keep Coming...An Epic Griot Song,” based on the recent Simon & Schuster release of the lyrical novel of the same name by Russell L. Goings. The reading was presented by Columbia University & Schomberg Center for Research in Black culture.

Then Thomas got to wield some swords, muskets and "play well tuned anvils with a sledge hammer" in a classic opera on a legendary stage. He was in Verdi’s “Il Travatore” at the Metropolitan Opera.

Erwin is finishing the spring by doing some teaching: a middle school poetry class and a high school playwriting class.

And he begins the summer of 2009 here at Centrum, teaching theater in the Summer High School Arts Camp. If you are an aspiring actor, don’t miss this opportunity to learn from this dynamic artist.

A Bi-national Renaissance

2009-05-14T14:55:25-07:00

At the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM, the de la Torre Brothers are exhibiting Meso-Americhanics (Maneuvering Mestizaje) de la Torre Brothers and Border Baroque through August 16, 2009. (Follow the live links to read about their exhibit.)

The brothers are glass blowers and installation artists, born in Mexico and living and working in both the United States and Mexico.

Pictured here is an example of their sculpture using glass and other materials:

Baja Kali
by Einar and Jamex de la Torre

2001
Blown glass, mix media,
87" x 45" x 17".
Collection of the artists.
Photo courtesy of the artists.

While at Centrum working with high school students during the Summer High School Arts Camp, (June 21-27, 2009) the de la Torres will be using mixed media. They plan to drive to Centrum, stopping along the way at thrift stores and other places where "good stuff" is abundant, and arrive with a collection of materials for artmaking. Students are encouraged to bring their own treasures and finds to combine with what they find at Centrum. They'll be asked to examine "identity" and how ideas about who they are, what culture they live in, and what that says about them as individuals. How does identity inform the creative process? Is it revealed through the objects chosen to create sculpture?