FOSTERING CREATIVITY IN NJ
Download the 2023 NJ State Teen Arts Festival Guide here
OUR PROGRAMS
ABOUT THE STATE FESTIVAL
The New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival is the statewide culminating celebration of the arts dedicated to inspiring New Jersey teen artists, educators, professional artists, and arts advocates from across the state to unite as one grand all-inclusive community. The accomplishments of the Garden State’s teen artists will be recognized by showcasing their creative efforts in the literary, performing, and visual arts.
During the three-day festival, students who have been invited can receive valuable feedback about their art in group and individual critiques, both written and verbal, and often “sit-in” on the critiques of other emerging artists in their discipline, increasing their educational experience. Professional artists at the festival provide in-depth critical reviews and analysis of student work, performances and group presentations, a process that all students report to be most beneficial to their growth as artists.
A program like no other!
For over fifty years, the Arts High program has been providing college-level instruction for middle and high school students. Students selected for the program after an audition process will receive courses in the literary, performing, and visual arts. The courses are taught at an advanced level and provide a rigorous curriculum for developing artistic skills and creative expression in the art form of the student’s choice.
While many public and private middle and high schools have wonderful arts programs, we bring the best teen artists in the state together with professional artists to provide an instructional program like no other!
Visit our application page today to register for in-person auditions.
SOME OF OUR CLASSES
Availability varies by county and grade
Students will work on scripted scenes. Through exercises and critical feedback, the students will learn to develop interesting and truthful characters in a variety of settings and situations dictated by the written script.
In this class students will explore various approaches to writing poetry, short stories, and songs. They will use their memories and imaginations. Students will use literary devices to enrich their writing voices, as they create simple plotlines, complex characters, and song lyrics. Certain assignments will incorporate choices around style: self-expression, persuasive, or narrative.
This course is designed to teach students to improvise in a variety of musical styles including jazz, rock, blues, pop and classical. Basic music theory, scales, melodic vocabulary, and motive development techniques will be covered.
This course blends techniques from ballet, jazz, modern and lyrical genres and will provide development through theory and practical application.
The Drawing and Painting course will give serious students the opportunity to develop their technical skills and explore the creative process with a wide range of materials. Different techniques and approaches will be introduced, helping the students to develop new methods of self-expression.
A creative approach to vocal technique, this vocal music class will include breathing, placement, sight singing and music reading/theory. Students will work on singing solo numbers as well as in groups. Special attention to building confidence and working together cooperatively will be important parts of the class.
This course will feature hands-on technical skills in portraiture, lighting, still life, etc. Discussions on the world of fine art photography, galleries, and gallery presentation. Weekly assignments and open critiques.
Thank you to our sponsors and partners
This program has been made possible in part by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.