Talent Show and Costume Ball!

This weekend was filled with excitement, creative costumes, dancing, and fun! Our annual costume ball was held on Sunday the 19th, and everyone made some amazing costumes for our "Alice In Wonderland" theme.























Our talent show, hosted by counselors Emily and Angela on the the afternoon of Saturday the 18th, was a huge success! Many students participated and gave us some truly amazing acts ranging from dance, musical instruments, singing, rap, and even fencing with swords made by the students themselves. Everyone did an amazing job!

Hello Everyone!

It's been an especially busy week at NYSSSA Visual Arts and we're excited to begin preparations for the final exhibition. The students have been working very hard in classes and open studios to complete their projects. In addition to Master Teacher lectures, the students got a glimpse of the Counselors' artwork and experiences through a night of Residential Life Lectures. We also hosted another great visiting artist, named Alexis Karl, who currently lives in New York City and paints fantasy portraits. After her lecture, Alexis visited the classrooms and workshopped with the students to create their own portraits.

Yet we are still finding time to have fun! Counselors Quinn and Emily hosted a jewelry making workshop for the second floor girls, who made beautiful earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. They even used found objects from the beach at Lake Erie and purchases from a local antique store.

All of the students have been busily preparing for our annual costume ball. This year's theme is Alice and Wonderland. The counselors have been driving buses to Salvation Army and Wal-Mart to buy costume supplies. We have seen some especially creative designs made from ingenious materials! The costume ball is not the only thing to look forward to this weekend! There will also be a Talent Show and fun Field Day activities. Please come back soon to discover photographs and more descriptions of these events!

Second week, and we're off with a BANG!

A strange thing happens when you are a NYSSSA student, where time seems to be both suspended indefinitely and moving at the speed of light simultaneously. It is really in the second week that this new temporal displacement occurs. And what a second week we had.

Starting just with our Independence weekend festivities, the kids attended a Batiking workshop with our Resident Life visiting artist, Danielle Garfinkel, played "We Know More than You" Trivia, watched fireworks, and enjoyed an ice cream social courtesy of the Res. Life Staff. The following morning we all loaded ourselves onto buses and had a beach day at Point Gratoit, complete with swimming, sunscreen and sandcastle contests. The winners took home some very fine trophies in our own formal award ceremony. And then we departed, back to campus and the kids readied themselves for a second week of classes.

During that second week, the students were able to attend their first real visiting artist lecture, with Brooklyn-based artist Kenya Robinson. Her mixed media work was intriguing and unusual, and the students were able to direct all of their questions to her when she came and visited them in their morning classes. They finished out the week with a Friday visit to the Albright-Knox gallery in Buffalo, where the students were taken on an educational tour, and were given time to explore the debuting exhibition, "Bad Habits" which included many well-known contemporary artists.

Later that night, back on campus, we decked out the lounge with string lights and sound equipment and had our very own, low-key, high-talent open mic nite. Many of our students overcame their shyness and got up to perform their musical, poetic, and story-telling abilities. Open mic nite also saw the debut of the counselor band, including two ukuleles, a kazoo, a violin, and a Casio keyboard, doing a cover of Katy Perry's "Hot n' Cold". There were delicious baked goods and snacks and an excellent time was had by all.

Not deterred by the rainiest day EVER on Saturday, in which all of the students returned soaked to the bone only from making the five minute walk from Rockefeller Art Center to the dorm, the weekend came to a close with Sunday activities, including more "We Know More Than You" trivia, tye-dye, and bubbles.

Hard to believe this was all in one week. The next one will continue to be exiciting with awesome events like the much anticipated Talent Show and Costume ball, where all the students will without a doubt strut their creativity outside the classroom for all to see. Keep on reading!

The First Week!!!

We have come so far since check-in, tearful goodbyes, and that amazing circle of trust on day one. This first week has been a week of new art and new teachers, new classmates, and new skills. The students have jumped into their varied studio work with zeal and enthusiasm. Some are busily etching into copper plates for print-making, others are molding figures from clay, a mixed media class is exploring "steampunk," creating antique futuristic objects with garage sale treasures, and another bunch are furiously minicking their faces in charcoal and paint. Open Studios, an opportunity for students to get additional time to work on their assignments, have been well attended with lots of progress and discoveries being made. Their creativity and love for art is astounding, they are all supporting eachother and open to sugestions from their peers. Many evenings this week have also been spent attentively soaking up lectures from teachers and working artists both about contemporary and historic works. It is hard to believe we are already a quarter of a way through the program. But thats how it goes! Time flies ... This upcoming weekend will play host to a slew of workshops, games, activities and trips -- including fireworks on the 4th of July! More to come ...

We've only just begun . . .

I want to begin with what I think will be the first of many magical moments here at NYSSSA-Visual Arts.

On Saturday during the last hour of registration a small group of students formed a circle on the front lawn of Alumni Hall. Slowly this circle grew larger and larger. In this ever growing and inviting circle, students took turns sharing what they loved about ART. The circle then shifted into a crescent and each one got up in front of their peers, introduced and shared a few things about themselves. Couselors and parents alike marvelled at this self-started and sustained Show and Tell!

Unfortunately, we had to break it up to go to dinner. Students met with their counselors and walked to Erie Dining Hall together. Soon after everyone returned to the dorm and had their first hall meeting.

On Sunday students met with their counselors again for a walking tour of campus and kept busy throughout the day with activities sponsored by the Res Life staff. They also found out which classes they had been placed in. Later that day after dinner the entire program met in the Marvel Auditorium for the grand orientation where students were introduced to the directors, artistic and res life staff. After introductions, orientation and a moving speech by Artistic Director Randy Williams, the students enjoyed the Faculty Art Exhibiton in the gallery which was particularly impressive this year.

Monday marked the first day of classes! Since then, we've had the pleasure of seeing students working diligently in open studios after class and throughout campus. It's a joy to walk around the grounds of SUNY Fredonia and see watercolors being painted and pastel drawings being made, just to name a few.

I can just tell this is going to be an amazing month.

Stay tuned!

School begins this weekend

On this Saturday, June 27th, the New York State Summer School of Visual Arts will begin.Registration will take place from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on the SUNY Fredonia campus. Students should report to Alumni Hall for registration.