90+ Arts and Leadership Programs for NYC Teens

Yes, school's coming.  Not here yet, but on it's way.  As teens, you'll have a few choices about what you get to study at school - but, yes, there are likely a lot of limits.

What you CAN choose is what to do with your time outside of school.  (Other than homework.)  That is, you can choose to follow an interest if you know where to look for it...

That's where our guide comes in.  It's got info on over 90 programs around the city for creative, gutsy teens.  Many are free, many offer scholarships, many are looking for YOU.

Download our Resource Guide and make some choices for yourself.

Ten Things Adults Can Do at the Festival Saturday

1.  Get moving with a cup of MUD coffee (FAB Cafe, 12-5pm)
2.  Hula Hoop for exercise  (Hula Hooping Workshop, Jules Skloot, 1pm, Street Stage)
3.  Buy some art (Luck You, Maureen Coyle and others, 12-5pm)
4.  Sharpen your artistic eye  (New Museum workshop, 2:45pm, Big Tent)
5.  Play 4-square  (Games Area, 12-5pm)
6.  Recycle and renew your home decor  (EcoAction Network - Electronics recycling, and art workshops to create vases & containers from recycled materials, 12-5pm)
7.  Get a massage  (East Village Chiropractic, $1/minute chair massage to benefit the Festival)
8.  Win a summer outing (Free raffle, Festival Central, prizes from Brooklyn Cyclones, NY Shakespeare Festival, NY Surf School, Bike and Roll, & Coney Island Sideshow)
9.  Grab a cafe table & a snack and celebrate local heros (Awards Ceremony, 3:30pm, with Councilwoman Rosie Mendez)
10. Contemplate a new artistic career (workshops for filmmakers, fashion designers, and playwrights, Big Tent, 2-5pm)

bonus
11.  Feel great about the younger generation!   - performances and exhibitions by over 200 young artists, ages 12-21, to hear, see, enjoy, and take pleasure in!  All day long!

Ten Things Teens Can Do at the Festival Saturday

Phony Ppl, Music Stage, 2010

1.  Sharpen your auditioning skills  (Auditioning Workshop,  NYU Tisch, 1pm, Big Tent)
2.  Tag yourself a T  (Whitney Youth Insights booth, 'Spray Painting T's & Hats', 1-4pm)
3.  Learn stage combat skills (Stage Combat Workshop, Jose Perez IV, Street Stage, 1:30pm)
4.  Have your photography portfolio reviewed  (Portfolio Review - Art Tables, Sean Hemmerle, 1pm email for appt. to info@downtownart.org)
5.  Get with a program (Visit over 20 tables and pick up your free "NYC Youth Resource Guide to Arts & Leadership Programs" at Festival Central)
6.  Compare notes on singer/songwriters  (Zen Anton, Alice Quinn-Makwaia, Fiona Silver, Eli Greenhoe, August Glory, Elisa Lovelie & Victor Gurbo, Music Stage, 1-5pm)
7.  Move your filmmaking up a notch  (Young Filmmakers discussion, Chris Chan Roberson, Big Tent, 2pm)
8.  Get the low-down on the real life of a playwright  (Young Playwrights discussion, 4pm, Fernanda Coppel, Eljon Wardally, and Elizabeth Borjsza of Young Playwrights, Inc.)
9.  Make yourself a new accessory from recycled goods  (Plarn Chokers & Maneiac Scarves, Eco Action art tables, 12-5pm)
10.  Take part in a mass battle (Street Stage, Stage Combat II, Jose Perez IV, 4:30pm)

bonus
11.  Grab a bite and a table from the FAB Cafe and see some amazing dancers, musicians, and singers - all teens themselves - Downtown Art, Rod Rodgers Dance Company, TADA!, The Possibility Project, The Point, Third Street Jazz Ensemble, Henry Street Settlement's Urban Youth Theater, Maple Street Band, And the Rats Grew Wilder, Dig It, The Door, ACAI Capoeira... and MORE!

Ten things kids can do at the Festival of Young Artists

Young Audiences at the Festival 2010

1. Catch the circus: ArtFarm's "Circus for a Fragile Planet" (12pm) 
2. Make tin can stilts (EcoAction art tables, 12-5pm)
3. Have their fortune told by a monkey  (Fortune Telling Monkey, LES Girls Club Tent, 12-5pm) 
4. Spray paint a hat  (Whitney Youth Insights table, 1-4pm)
5. Play theater games  (Street Stage, NY NeoFuturists, 2:15pm) 
6. See a choreographed fight on stage (Jose Perez IV and troupe, Dance Stage, 3pm) 
7. Share the street with a capoeira troupe  (ACAI, Street Stage, 2:40pm) 
8. Play hopscotch or hula hoop (Street, play area, 12-5pm) 
9. Get an elaborately painted face (Lower Eastside Girl's Club Tent, 12-5pm) 
10. Learn how to draw manga (Yali Lin/HiArt, Art Tables, 2:15pm)

and bonus...
Rock out with teen bands!  (Music Stage - And the Rats Grew Wilder - 12:15pm, Dig It 12:40pm, Fiona Silver 2:05, Lena Feliciano Hansen 2:55, Oscar Hallas 3:05, Maple Street Band 4:40pm)

Kudos to "Gowns for Girls" - a project of the LES Girls Club

This Saturday, 'Gowns for Girls' - a program of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, will get a special Leadership Award at the Festival (3:30pm, DanceStage). 

It can be tough to be a girl on prom night -- there's a lot of Cinderella in the air -- a lot of stress and concern about being pretty, having the right clothes. 

A progressive organization like the amazingly creative Lower Eastside Girls Club might have thought prom dresses were too silly to be involved with.  After all, their focus is on building Ethical, Entrepreneurial, and Environmental awareness.  A bit more serious than a tulle petticoat.  But the Girls' Club has too big a heart to ignore the lesser issues that make up all our lives - and too much understanding as well. 

Their website shouted out:  "Make a Girls Club member’s prom night one to remember (and help her save her money for college)!"  And through their efforts, hundreds of donated gowns and accessories make their way into the hands of young women from the Lower East Side. 

How many girl hearts went to their proms feeling beautiful?  Hard to know - but we feel quite sure that those gowns boosted confidence in a simple way that won't be forgotten for many, many years.

Congratulations to Lisa Donlan

Downtown Art's 'LOCAL HERO' Award this year is going to Lisa Donlan for her work on behalf of schoolchildren in our community.  Councilwoman Rosie Mendez will present the award at the Festival (Dance Stage, 3:30pm).

Lisa has worked long and hard to advocate for a great public school education for all children.  She's become an expert on the ins and outs of city education policies and a strong, informed leader, trusted by many.  For the past 4 years, Donlan has served as President of the neighborhood Community Education Council. 

It's always a thrill to recognize the hard work and commitment of people like Lisa - people whose contribution isn't publicly applauded often enough. 

What to do with your old electronics? Bring them to us!

EcoAction Network will not only be at the Festival this Saturday leading hands-on workshops in artmaking with recycled materials - but they'll be taking your old computers, mp3 players, sony playstations -- anything electronic that you need to get rid of -- and recycling them! 

Remember, these are items you can't drop off at the Goodwill or Salvation Army.  So pack your bag and leave the Festival a little lighter!