MIAMI: The National YoungArts Foundation has announced its 35th anniversary season, featuring young artists in the visual, literary, design, and performing arts with programming in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City. The season kicked off with YoungArts Awareness Day on Sept. 24.
“YoungArts provides emerging artists with the inspiration, resources, and platforms they need to foster creative development, support professional growth, and realize their most ambitious artistic visions,” said vice president of artistic programs, Lisa Leone, in a statement. “This season, we are more dedicated than ever to strengthening our role as a catalyst for these talented young artists to pursue their dreams. We look forward to welcoming the 35th anniversary class of YoungArts winners and celebrating the vital impact of the arts on our nation and the world.”
The YoungArts Outside the Box series (Nov.–May, 2016), which launched in 2014 with a grant from ArtPlace America, will feature the work of emerging artists and YoungArts alumni in Miami. The series engages the community with public performances and serves as a catalyst for change in the neighborhood.
First will be a performance from Complexions in Contemporary Ballet, YoungArts’s first resident dance company, co-founded by Tony nominee and YoungArts winner Desmond Richardson. Performances will take place in Miami on Nov. 7 as part of the Outside the Box series, and in New York on Nov. 17 and 24. Dwight Rhoden will choreograph.
National YoungArts Week will take place in Miami Jan. 4—9 to showcase performances in dance and music, and exhibit work in design, photography, art, and writing. Among the offerings will be a classical, jazz, and pop voice performance (Jan. 4), a theatre and jazz instrumental performance (Jan. 5), dance performance (Jan. 6), and cinematic arts screenings (Jan. 6). The weeklong event will culminate in a ceremony honoring three distinguished awardees.
The season also includes theYoungArts Pairings at Ted’s series, featuring film screenings and performances of jazz, spoken word, and theatre paired with prix fixe three-course dinners. Highlights include Spooky Requiems (Oct. 30–31), performed by Grammy Award-nominated chamber choir Seraphic Fire, A Broadway Thanksgiving Concert (Nov. 27–28), and Rudi Goblen’s interactive one-man show about heartbreak called PET (Feb. 26–27, 2016).
The foundation was established in 1981 to identify and support the next generation of artists in all disciplines of art. Each year, YoungArts awards approximately 800 artists between the ages of 15 and 18, and awardees work with mentors, receive cash awards of up to $10,000, gain access to scholarships, become eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and perform and exhibit their work.
