Simsbury Arts Academy Is Now Enrolling

Article submitted by Simsbury Public Schools

Some children have a passion for fashion design; some need a little extra nurturing on their new strings instrument; and some children thrive on the high energy of a musical theater production. For all types of kids, there is a gem of a program to meet their artistic needs—the Simsbury Arts Academy (SAA). Now in its sixth year, SAA serves grades 1-12 and offers intensive three-week sessions taught by certified teachers and master teaching artists. The SAA program is divided into “academies”—Musical Theater Academy, Strings Academy, Jazz Academy, and Visual Arts Academy. SAA Artistic Director Cynthia White Rehm built the program with the goal of developing high-quality, innovative ways to engage students in opportunities to explore, enrich or refine knowledge and skills in an arts discipline of the student’s choosing beyond the school day or year. SAA is constantly evolving based on the contemporary student’s interests. Said Rehm, “This year we are focusing on fashion, with fabulous new courses, all the fundamentals for students considering fashion design—we have figure drawing, ‘Stepping into Fashion,’ and ‘The Art of Manipulating Fabric.’” Simsbury High School junior Noah Goldblatt is now in his fifth year of year-round SAA classes. He explained how he got started in the program. “I was interested in the pottery program,” said Goldblatt, “I was curious to experience something totally new, figured I’d just try it, why not?” Sometimes “why not?” is the best reason, and for Goldblatt, that attitude led him to where he is today, having made lots of new friends and new connections with professionals. Plus now he can proudly declare, “I am a ceramics artist.” Besides his interest in the visual arts, Goldblatt also played the violin and thus became involved in the Strings Academy. This program provides an enjoyable way for students to remain engaged in practicing and creating music. As every parent knows, instruments will likely collect dust unless a child learns that practicing can be fun—an important theme at the Academy. While mastering an instrument or learning a new artistic technique are great skills, SAA is also known for some unexpected benefits, including positive social development. When he first started at SAA, Goldblatt was an incoming freshman with the typical apprehensions about entering high school. SAA gave him a chance to “build a bond” with SAA strings teacher JoAnna Ferrari, a teacher at SHS. Additionally, taking SAA classes at SHS familiarized him with the layout of the high school. When fall rolled around, he was confident and comfortable in the halls and classrooms. Besides fashion classes and the Strings Academy, SAA also offers the high energy of the Jazz Academy for students at any level of proficiency (even for beginners!) or for those who just want to expand their musical repertoire. Children will be exposed to all aspects of theater production in SAA’s Musical Theater Academy, which will perform Seussical Jr this summer. The Visual Arts Academy is one of Farmington Valley’s few opportunities for students who enjoy art to take three classes for high school credit. For busy high school students, SAA gives them the opportunity to create unique works of art for their portfolio for college. Even for the not-so-serious art student, the Visual Arts Academy is an avenue to explore new materials and techniques—and perhaps launch a lifelong artistic passion. For children who want to traverse disciplines in the arts, “All About the Arts” gives students their choice of three topics, from exploring clay or drawing from nature, to dancing or playing the ukulele, to acting workshops or the art of journal writing, and much more. Said Rehm, “Parents rave about our ‘All About the Arts’ offering, which is our most popular. The kids make new friends in wonderful, engaging classes and the rooms, computers and supplies at the high school really support the students’ interests.” Summer enrollment has begun for classes July 9-26 for grades 4-12, and space is filling quickly, especially for classes with limited enrollment. The Primary Division runs July 8-26 and offers half-day visual arts sessions for grades 1-3. For information about SAA, including how to register, please visit www.simsbury.k12.ct.us/SAA or call (860) 658-0451, ext.621.