Young Arts Ambassador Youth Showcase

by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS

The arts are for everyone to create and to enjoy. The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’s Young Arts Ambassadors are learning about the arts from the inside out, and they’ll share their knowledge and creations at a showcase this Saturday. A benefit for the program, the showcase features dance, music, poetry and visual art created by the ambassadors and other young artists. The nine ambassadors participating in this year’s program planned the event and put it together themselves, dealing with the myriad details that go into presenting a show.

Most but not all of the ambassadors will perform or show art, said Vanessa Postil, who organizes the program. “A couple of them are going to do technical and administrative stuff, but everyone has a role,” she said. “Everyone will be introducing each other and talking about arts advocacy and how important the arts is for youth.” The program, which runs from October to May, gives students aged 13 to 19 a broad range of experience of the arts, and it builds job-related skills. Participants take monthly workshops on topics ranging from improvisational theater to writing for social media. They also volunteer as ushers and attend some performances free. They write reviews of performances they attend, which are posted to the ambassadors’ blog.

“The program,” Postil said, “is for students who are interested in learning about arts advocacy and learning how to think about art in the context of bringing it to people and doing it themselves.” Jill Barnes, the center’s executive director, came up with the program, now in its third year. There is room for more students to participate next year, Postil said. “I think 20 students or more would be ideal,” she said. “I’d like to see it grow.”

What: Young Arts Ambassador Youth Showcase

Where: Black Box Theater,
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts,
512 Washington St. SE, Olympia

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, May 6

How much: donation suggested

Get tickets: 360-753-8586 | The Washington Center

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