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National YoungArts Foundation Opens 2014 Applications; Launches Design Arts Program

By: May. 30, 2013
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The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts), a non-profit that recognizes and supports the nation's most talented young artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts, has announced that its 2014 application will be available online at http://www.youngarts.org/apply from May 31, 2013 through October 18, 2013. This year, students with an interest in architecture and design are also encouraged to apply for the inaugural YoungArts Design Arts program.

For 33 years, YoungArts has been identifying and supporting the next generation of artists, and contributing to the cultural vitality of the nation by investing in the artistic development of talented young people. By providing 15- to 18-year-old artists with life-changing experiences with renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition, and other opportunities throughout their careers, YoungArts helps ensure that the nation's most outstanding emerging artists are encouraged to pursue careers in the arts.

"Applying to our program is the first step to taking advantage of the unique opportunities YoungArts has to offer and joining an inspiring network of more than 17,000 alumni who understand and support each other's dreams of becoming a professional artist," said Paul T. Lehr, National YoungArts Foundation's Executive Director. "This year, YoungArts is proud to be adding a tenth discipline-Design Arts, with the co-operation of Frank Gehry, one of our Artistic Advisors-to increase our service to emerging artists and help us reach more students."

The Design Arts discipline, geared towards students who are intrigued by architecture and design, including digital design; gaming and media; product, industrial or fashion design, will launch on Sunday, January 5, 2014. YoungArts Week Finalists in Design Arts will participate in a week-long design charrette led by professional architects and designers in a studio setting. Working collaboratively, Finalists will work in a "transdisciplinary" approach across the design disciplines to further develop their ideas through the process of drawing, modeling and prototyping. Finalists will work individually and collaboratively in small teams for a real-world experience of a functioning design studio.

To be eligible for recognition by YoungArts, applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 18 or in high school grades 10-12 (as of December 1, 2013), and demonstrate excellence in the visual, literary, performing or design arts. YoungArts Winners are selected annually through a blind adjudication process and are designated into three categories, Finalist, Honorable Mention, and Merit. Finalists and Honorable Mention Winners receive monetary recognition from the National YoungArts Foundation. Finalists are eligible for financial awards and scholarships of up to $10,000. All Winners are eligible to participate in the Emmy-nominated HBO series YoungArts MasterClass, and as YoungArts Alumni, receive access to college scholarships, fellowships, and ongoing opportunities to perform and exhibit their work through YoungArts' professional contacts and partnerships with some of the leading arts institutions in the nation.

If students have any questions, they can reach programming staff at (305) 377-1140 or apply@youngarts.org.

Approximately 160 of the year's Finalists from across the nation are invited to YoungArts Week in Miami in January, where they participate in a week of intensive master classes and workshops with internationally renowned artists. Finalists also have the opportunity to share their work each evening in performances, readings, exhibitions and screenings that are open to the public. During YoungArts Week, students are further evaluated, award levels are determined and nominations are made for the 2014 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, the highest award that can be given to any artistically talented high school senior in the United States.

Additionally, Winners living in and around Los Angeles, Miami, and New York are invited to participate in YoungArts' regional programs in their respective city, which include recognition, master classes, workshops and ongoing opportunities to showcase their work.

Selected out of approximately 10,000 applications, 685 YoungArts Winners were recognized for their outstanding work across the visual, literary and performing arts fields. A complete list of the 2013 Winners is available online at www.youngarts.org/2013YoungArtsWinners.

Presidential Scholars in the Arts: YoungArts serves as the exclusive nominating agency for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts. Each year, 20 YoungArts Winners are chosen as U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts and showcase their work at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. A full list of the 141 Presidential Scholars, is available online at www.ed.gov.

Sunday, June 16, 2013 / An Exhibition of Works
Artworks and Readings by the 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts
4 p.m. Exhibition Viewing
5 p.m. Writers' Readings and Cinematic Arts Screening
Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th and G Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia
No RSVP or tickets required.

Monday, June 17, 8 p.m. / A Salute to the 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholars
An Evening of Performances by the 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts / Concert Hall
2700 F Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia
Event is FREE and open to the public, but tickets are required.

To reserve tickets, call the U.S. Presidential Scholars line after June 5 at (202) 401-0961 or email presidential.scholars@ed.gov.

The National YoungArts Foundation (formerly known as the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify and support the next generation of artists, and to contribute to the cultural vitality of the nation by investing in the artistic development of talented young artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts. YoungArts provides emerging artists with life-changing experiences with renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition, and other opportunities throughout their careers to help ensure that the nation's most outstanding emerging artists are encouraged to pursue careers in the arts.

To date, YoungArts has honored more than 17,000 young artists with over $6 million in monetary awards; facilitated in excess of $150 million in college scholarship opportunities; and enabled its participants to work with master teachers who are among the most distinguished artists in the world, such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jacques d'Amboise, Plácido Domingo, Frank Gehry, Bill T. Jones, Quincy Jones and Martin Scorsese.

YoungArts alumni who have gone on to become leading professionals in their fields include actresses Vanessa Williams, Viola Davis, and Kerry Washington; actor, musician, and filmmaker, Adrian Grenier; four-time Tony Award nominee Raúl Esparza; Chief Executive Officer of American Ballet Theatre Rachel Moore; recording artists Nicki Minaj and Chris Young; musicians Terence Blanchard, Eric Owens, and Jennifer Koh; choreographer Desmond Richardson; visual artist Hernan Bas; and internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Doug Aitken.

Some of YoungArts work is featured in its Emmy nominated HBO series YoungArts MasterClass, in which masters teach and mentor young artists. Season 1 featured Edward Albee, Jacques d'Amboise, Plácido Domingo, Olafur Eliasson, Frank Gehry, Bill T. Jones, Julian Schnabel, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Liv Ullmann. Season 2 features Renée Fleming, John Guare, Patti LuPone, Bobby McFerrin, James Rosenquist, Kathleen Turner, and Bruce Weber. Future seasons will include Robert Redford, Joshua Bell, and Wynton Marsalis. In conjunction with Columbia University's Teachers College, YoungArts also has developed a Study Guide based on its YoungArts MasterClass series which is distributed free to schools nationwide to help increase arts education and awareness.

YoungArts recently acquired the former Bacardi Tower and Museum buildings to serve as its national headquarters and support expanded local activities in Miami, FL. (Read The Miami Herald story here and The New York Times story here). World-renowned architect and YoungArts Artistic Advisor Frank Gehry is helping to transform the campus into a multidisciplinary arts complex with a design that features a performing arts center and park with state-of-the-art sound and video capabilities. The campus will host year-round programming including master classes, film screenings, performances, artist residencies, and visual arts exhibitions guest curated by institutions based in Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

Watch a brief video about YoungArts, and visit www.youngarts.org for more information.



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