Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts Opens FIRST CLASS Exhibit, 3/8

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the Long Island summer arts camp whose alumni include Natalie Portman and Mariah Carey, announces the Long Island opening of its free public art exhibit: First Class, the inaugural show of works by students of Usdan's 2011 Portfolio Preparation Track, presented at the Atrium at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts from March 8 to 22, 2012.  

It will be open Monday to Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM and later on Tilles Center performance evenings on the weekend.  There will be a closing reception on March 22 at 6 PM. The exhibit will be moving from its Manhattan exhibit at The Lobby Gallery on Park Avenue in Manhattan, where it ran January 24 to March 7.  Previous exhibits by students in the program (formerly titled theUsdan Honors Art Intensive) have been presented at major public venues in New York City and on Long Island.  For more information, call Usdan Center at (631) 643-7900, write to info@usdan.com, or visit http://www.usdan.com
 
First Class features 6 of Long Island's talented 11th and 12 grade artists, each showing works that highlight their conceptual and artistic depth. Genres include life drawing, still life, self-portrait, landscape, photography, and sculpture. The artists are: Jessica Boyd of Shreiber High School, Manhasset, NY; Jessica Curry of Deer Park High School, Deer Park, NY; Denise Losee of Mepham High School, North Merrick, NY; Emily Rabinowitz of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, Old Bethpage, NY; Nicole Wildstein of Jericho High School, Jericho, NY; and Julie Zeitoun of Jericho High School, Jericho, NY.

Tilles Center, Long Island's premier concert hall, has long hosted exhibits in its public spaces by faculty and students of the LIU Post Art Dept., students from local schools, and professional artists.   In the spring of 2011 it hosted Self-Defining Mediums, the show by students in Usdan's Honors Art Intensive.
 
Usdan's Portfolio Preparation Track combines rigorous development of technique and on-site explorations of art history with advice from some of the most prestigious art colleges in the country. This selective program offers dedicated art students an intensive seven-week course designed to build their skills and encourage their vision. The result is a stronger portfolio as students prepare for college and beyond. This exhibit showcases the results of their efforts.
 
The program is taught by Derek Mainhart, an art teacher at Long Island colleges including Molloy, Hofstra, and Boricua.  He has been a member of Usdan Center's art faculty for seven years. Rochelle Morgan, Chair of Usdan's Visual Arts Department, worked with Mainhart to develop the Portfolio Preparation Track. Morgan teaches art at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School.
 
Usdan Center  (www.usdan.com) is the nationally renowned summer arts day camp chosen for each of the past several years as a "Best Class or Camp" by TimeOutNY Magazine. Now entering its 45th season. Usdan is situated on a 200-acre woodland campus in the Huntington area of Long Island and is annually attended by more than 1500 children ages 6 to 18 from New York City and throughout the Tri-State Area.  Featuring more than 40 programs in music, dance, theater, visual arts, creative writing, nature and ecology and chess, Usdan Center has introduced the arts to more than 50,000 children, ages 6-18.  Most programs are open to all, with no audition required, and about one-third of students attend on scholarship.  Usdan alumni also include jazz singer Jane Monheit and members of major music (Boston Pops, San Francisco Symphony) and dance (New York City Ballet) ensembles.  Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York.

Usdan Center is currently hosting several Open Houses for its 2012 season. Upcoming events include Open Houses on Sundays, March 18, April 22 and May 20, and Wednesday February 22.  Each Open House is from 11 AM to 2 PM. For information, call (212) 772-6060 or (631) 643-7900, write to openhouse@usdan.com, or visit www.usdan.com.

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