High-School Students, Professional Artists Come Together to Celebrate the Arts
In a few weeks, almost 100 high school students will gather at the Patterson Park Community Center to celebrate a common thread: a love of the arts.
The 2010 Express Yourself Arts Conference (EYAC), held on October 27, will bring these students together to explore, practice, and hone their skills, from painting to graphic design, writing to slam poetry, music to theater.
Because the arts, so says the conference’s mission, are more than just a disposable accessory to an education. They are essential.
“The Express Yourself Arts Conference is a unique opportunity that introduces Rutherford County’s high school students to the thriving arts culture within Middle Tennessee,” says Laura Beth Jackson, Community Relations Specialist at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and this year’s conference director. “So often creative students feel that they must either learn to get a ‘real job’ or that they have to leave Tennessee to find quality arts education or a fulfilling career in an arts-related industry. EYAC profiles local professional artists to help students pursue their artistic interests whether in a career, in school, or as a hobby, and encourages students to always find ways to be creative and innovative regardless of where life takes them.”
Aaron Shapiro, a workshop leader in this year’s conference and a published author, agrees that finding time to focus on the arts is necessary for a well-rounded education.
“Arts education is frequently sidelined in the school system,” Shapiro says. “Not that they’re aren’t great programs out there, but the general consensus seems to be that art is unnecessary, and when push comes to shove (and money gets tight) the arts are the first thing to go. Here in Tennessee, the problem is acute, especially in the wake of the current statewide budget shortfall. EYAC serves an essential function, making sure that arts education is available to students interested in art whose needs would otherwise go unmet.”
And the talented professionals coming to this year’s conference to share their life’s work surely demonstrate how far a love of the arts can take you.
Ann-Marie Jackson, a wildly successful architect and interior designer, will teach students how to “Draw with Confidence.” Playwright and Youth Librarian for Linebaugh Library Roy Lee and Lee Rennick, executive director of the Rutherford County Business Education Partnership, will conduct a workshop on improve theatre. Actors from the TN Shakespeare Festival will teach a class on performance. Artist Mai Harris, whose work has been featured in the Nashville Scene’s “Critic Picks,” will lead a workshop on painting portraits and screen printing. Poets from Youth Speaks Nashville, an organization that conducts spoken word poetry residencies, workshops, slams, and open mic nights, will teach a slam poetry class. Shapiro, a published and lauded author and poet, will teach a class on creative writing. Taylor Powell, a drummer who’s band just landed a full-length LP record, will lead a workshop in the art of Junkyard Symphonies.
These successful individuals have turned their art into their bread and butter. They are living proof that a passion for the creative can turn into an actual career.
“Society tends to tell its youth that the arts aren’t a realistic career path, but they are,” says painter Harris. “The Express Yourself Conference is especially good about not only allowing students to meet other artists their age, but by also informing them of their options with a career in the arts and introducing them to creative professionals who are making a living with their art.”
In the middle of the day, a panel of seven successful artists will be on hand to answer any of the students’ questions, including Lane Davey and Greg Wilson from the TN Shakespeare Festival, Beth Inglish of Nashville Arts Magazine, Ben Smith from Youth Speaks Nashville, Alberto Roldan from the Nashville Film Institute, and recording artists Jack and Diane Untz.
“Each artist who speaks or leads a workshop at the conference is a self-starter—not a single one has had their career handed to them on a silver platter,” Jackson says. “Yet each has used their creativity to not only pursue their art, but also to make it a career.”
There’s truly something for every creative student attending—and judging by the artwork they had to submit to attend the conference, it’s a diverse and talented bunch.
Read To Succeed Executive Director Ronni Shaw, whose organization has sponsored the conference from its inception five years ago, says that a literate community pays attention to the arts.
“Literacy isn’t just about reading,” Shaw says. “A literate community writes, creates, and performs. Read To Succeed and its many partners started the Express Yourself Arts Conference for high school students wanting careers in the arts or to expand their artistic experiences. The students, teachers, presenters, and volunteers all get a new appreciation for the arts from participating.”
This year’s conference is supported by more than two dozen local organizations and businesses, including the Rutherford County Business Education Sponsorship, Read To Succeed, the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of Rutherford County (CADCOR), MTEMC Customers Care Foundation, Friends of Linebaugh Library, Ingram Book Group, the Tennessee Arts Commission and Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation.
The conference’s organizers, as well as all the professional artists lending their skills to the event, know first-hand how important an arts education is.
“The arts were so important to all of us in high school to help us learn more about ourselves, as well as to explore history, culture, and ideas,” Jackson says. “Practicing art and creativity helped me to discover and express what I believed, what I thought, who I was, and what my interests were. My hope is that the students attending the conference will be encouraged to pursue activities that they love while learning about themselves, and they will draw energy from being with people who love the arts just like they do.”
