August 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 44

Photograph courtesy of Town of Cary

ARTS UNLEASHED

The Town of Cary,
North Carolina,
provides a variety
of programming for
those from 18 months
to seniors.

ceived the Nickelodeon Television Award
for Best Local Teen Art Program, and several NRPA awards, among others. Offerings
have included culinary arts, fashion design,
soft sculpture, painting, STEAM, ceramics,
metalsmith, jewelry making, mask making,
drumming and urban painting. Each session runs five weeks, with instructors rotating between recreation centers.
" We just finished our 21st year of
this regional and national award-winning program, " says Kelly Hasandras,
program specialist for the city of Austin. " We serve 150 teens a week, ages 12-
18, in eight recreation centers, and we
create different classes every year to keep
it fresh. We are trying to help two different communities with this program. We
hire emerging artists in the community
to teach these classes so they get valuable
experience teaching. And, it is valuable
for the students who take the classes. "
Arts and Culture
As the recipient of the 2016 National
Gold Metal Award for Excellence in Park
and Recreation Management, the town
of Cary, North Carolina, takes its cultural
resources very seriously. " Our arts programs run the gamut from hands-on class40

Parks & Recreation

es in painting, pottery, fused glass, metals,
woodworking and textiles to performance
classes in drama and dance, and various music areas, including guitar, piano,
voice and our popular bluegrass summer
camps. In addition, we offer classes in
filmmaking, video game production and
history camps, " says Lyman Collins, cultural arts manager. Programs are available
for those 18 months old to seniors.
The Town of Cary also hosts a robust
film festival, national musical and theatrical acts, and cultural events such as the
Diwali Festival, which is celebrated with
the local Indian-American community.
" A new off-season program at the amphitheater is the North Carolina Chinese
Lantern Festival, where incredible Chinese
'lanterns' - tall, intricate cloth-covered
figures lit internally - are built on-site by
Chinese craftspeople and then left on-site
for six weeks. [They] drew over 90,000 visitors this past holiday season, " says Collins.
" Because the Cary Arts Center brings
together the visual and performing arts
in one facility, we have nurtured opportunities for programs to complement
each other. For example, for a performance with a touring artist in our Marvelous Music series, our arts classes have

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worked with young people on drawing to
the music - expressing their art based
on the music they hear, " says Collins.
The city also works with more than 30
local arts organizations to assist in facilitating its programs and goals. This wide
range of arts programs and activities are
what has made the Town of Cary successful and nationally recognized. As
Collins says, " variety is our strength. "
Art not only can engage our youth, but
also can work toward social change. Along
the Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans, a
team of young community members created a mural that not only documents the history of the greenway, but also incorporates
themes of hope and reconciliation. Truly
a team effort, the project was spearheaded
by the Welcome Table New Orleans MidCity Circle, the Young Artists Movement
(YAM) and Prospect New Orleans.
" The lead artist, Keith Duncan, led
workshops with young people to teach
skills in mural-making. [After community
engagement], he worked with them to create the ultimate image that would be created at Lemann Pool, " says Alphonse Smith,
director of the Arts Council New Orleans.
" We had over 100 community members
participate, putting on the initial coats of
paint. We had people from ages 5 to over
60 coming out to kick off the project. From
there, the young people who were chosen
to participate in the project completed the
rest of the mural. " Today, the mural stands
as a reminder of the talent of our youth
and the power of community arts projects.
Dance
When a program is successful, it lasts,
and the San Diego Civic Dance Arts
program has done just that for 75 years.
Through the years, the program has introduced hundreds of thousands to the
art form of dance, and has been lauded
as the standard by which other citywide
dance programs nationwide measure
themselves. The program serves San Diego residents from 3 years old to senior
citizens across 20 locations.

August 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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