The Arts Fund and The Santa Maria Public Library are pleased to announce the opening of the 4th Annual North County Teen Arts Mentorship Exhibition. A public reception will be held on the evening of Wednesday, October 24th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Library’s Shepard Hall. The exhibition will be on view until Monday, October 29th.
The exhibition features the work of 23 student artists from Santa Barbara County that participated in this year’s spring and summer Teen Arts Mentorship workshops, including Font and Letter Design with Ruben Espinoza, Pen and Ink Drawing with Laura-Susan Thomas, Printmaking with Angelina LaPointe, Smart Phone Camera Photography with Michael Messina, and photographs featuring the first Lompoc mentorship, Mural Design with Louie Regalado.
Represented in the exhibition are students from eight schools throughout North Santa Barbara County, including Pioneer Valley High School, Santa Maria High School, Ernest Righetti High School, Trivium Academy, Orcutt Academy, Fesler Junior High School, Cabrillo High School and Lompoc High School.
Initiated in 1993 with a three-year grant from the Irvine Foundation, the Teen Arts Mentorship Program is an in-depth arts enrichment experience designed to expose teenage artists to career paths in the visual, performance, multimedia, and literary arts. Working in small groups of five to 10 with creative professionals in the community, students develop specific art-making skills, learn exhibition techniques, and build strong portfolios, resumes, and professional networks to bolster college applications. The Arts Fund (www.artsfundsb.org) was established as a nonprofit in 1983.
The Teen Arts Mentorship offers classes throughout the year in every media, including photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, assemblage, murals, graphic design, creative writing, poetry, filmmaking, theater, and performance art. The expanded program includes over 15 year-round classes, a new fall session for film and performance arts, and outreach to more than 25 schools, and a new branch of service to the underserved community of Santa Maria.