ArtsVibe Teen Program Announces Inaugural Teen Council; Holiday Party Set for Today

The Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program - a new initiative to engage metropolitan Atlanta teenagers as active participants in the arts - has announced the inaugural ArtsVibe Teen Council. Forty-nine teens throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area were selected to participate, and the students will work closely with arts administrators from the ALLIANCE THEATRE, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art, and Young Audiences to help program and promote ArtsVibe events to their fellow peers in the Atlanta community.

The first event implemented by Teen Council will be a holiday party today, December, 21, 2012, at 6:00 p.m., in the 1280 Gallery at the Woodruff Arts Center. The Teen Council will also be heavily involved in the ArtsVibe's "Voices & Vibe" festival in April 2013, as well as promoting and programming additional teen events at the Woodruff Arts Center.

Students were selected based on online applications and in-person interviews, and will each serve a one-year term. The Teen Council will meet twice per month and will be divided into the following subcommittees: talent scouts, marketing and design, event planning, advocacy, publications, and community service.

Launched in August 2012, the Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program is a new initiative to engage metropolitan Atlanta teenagers as active participants in the arts, made possible through a $2 million donation to the Woodruff Arts Center from Wells Fargo. The ArtsVibe program is a collaborative effort between all of the divisions of the Woodruff Arts Center: the ALLIANCE THEATRE, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art, and Young Audiences.

The program, which is designed to meet the needs of arts-oriented teens as well as those who are less familiar with the arts, will offer a combination of paid and free events for students in grades 6-12. ArtsVibe is expected to reach more than 10,000 teens in its inaugural year and to establish the Woodruff Arts Center as a premier destination for metropolitan Atlanta teens.

Programs and events will offer focused and multidimensional exploration of the arts for teens, and will include designated "Teen Nights" on campus, music lessons, poetry slams, acting classes, behind-the- scenes access to rehearsals and productions, and performances by teens for teens via the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and ALLIANCE THEATRE students, among other activities. Discounted tickets to select Woodruff Arts Center events and reduced MARTA and parking rates will also be offered to students.

For more information about ArtsVibe, visit www.artsvibe.com.

Founded in 1968, the ALLIANCE THEATRE is the largest regional producing theatre in the Southeast, creating the powerful experience of shared theatre for diverse people on two stages for youth and adult audiences. Under the leadership of Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, the ALLIANCE THEATRE received the Regional Theatre Tony Award in recognition for sustained excellence in programming, education and community engagement. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has launched three Tony Award- winning hits to Broadway: Alice Walker's "The Color Purple," Elton John and Tim Rice's "Aida" and Alfred Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo." The theatre has premiered more than 60 works including adaptations of Carson McCullers' "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," Pearl Cleage's "Blues for an Alabama Sky," and Stephen King and John Mellencamp's musical "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County." Further evidence of the Alliance's commitment to new work and education is found in its nationally recognized Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, a cutting-edge program introducing student playwrights to professional networks while producing the world premiere of the winning student's play. The ALLIANCE THEATRE also offers extensive education and outreach programs such as the Institute for Educators and the Collision Project for high school students. The Alliance continuously brings Atlanta the finest talent and finest art-above all else, the Alliance values excellence, pursued with integrity and creativity, and achieved through collaboration. For more information, visit alliancetheatre.org.

Founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, the High is the leading art museum in the southeastern U.S. With more than 12,000 works of art in its Permanent Collection, the High Museum of Art has an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American and decorative art; significant holdings of European paintings; a growing collection of African American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, photography and African art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists and is distinguished as the only major museum in North America to have a curatorial department specifically devoted to the field of folk and self-taught art. The High's media arts department produces acclaimed annual film series and festivals of foreign, independent and classic cinema. In November 2005 the High opened three new buildings by architect Renzo Piano that more than doubled the Museum's size, creating a vibrant "village for the arts" at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta. For more information about the High, visit www.High.org.

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center (YA) is Georgia's leading provider of arts-in-education programming. Part of the prestigious 30-chapter national Young Audiences organization, YA brings the power of live arts experiences to Georgia students from pre-school through high school. Young Audiences is celebrating 29 years of service and has grown into a force in arts education, with more than 73 professional roster artists and ensembles that reach over 400,000 students each year in 50 counties statewide.

We fulfill our mission - to transform the lives and learning of young people through the arts - by providing a dazzling and culturally diverse array of curriculum-based assemblies, workshops and residencies in music, dance, theatre, literary and visual arts. Young Audiences has made a commitment to impacting literacy in K-12th grades by providing supplemental programs that align to Georgia Performance Standards. Our Literacy Suite comprised of smArt Start, Arts for Learning and Digital Storytelling is designed to provide students with opportunities to increase literacy, writing skills and overall language development through in-depth engagement in the arts. For more information, visit www.yawac.org.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. We want to help all of our customers succeed financially and create long-term economic growth and quality of life for everyone in our communities. In 2010, the Company invested a record $219 million in grants in 19,000 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.3 million volunteer hours around the country. For more information, visit: www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr.

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