In 2023, The Arts Fund hosted 6 mentorships featuring students from 7 Santa Barbara County High Schools, serving over 60 students.
The mentorships included All Levels Hip-Hop Dance, Self Expression Through Painting, Musical Theater Ensemble, Page to Stage Poetry, Introduction to Music Production, and Traditional/Digital Art Mash-Up.
Spring Mentorships
All Levels Hip-Hop Dance
South County Mentorship with Paris Davidson
Award winning dancer & choreographer Paris Davison mentored 10 students in an All Levels Dance program. These teens showcased their final performance at Center Stage Theater, where friends, family, and supporters were invited to cheer them on.
SUMMER MENTORSHIPS
Introduction to Music Production
South County Mentorship with Talitha Blackwell
Sound engineer and music producer, Talitha Blackwell, led Music Production Fundamentals: Composition and Mixing. This mentorship taught students tools to create music compositions that can be used in collaborations or personal music projects. The students had their creations on display at from November-January at The Arts Fund Community Gallery.
Musical Theater Ensemble
North County Mentorship with Chad Ruyle
Musician & educator Chad Ruyle led a North County mentorship over the summer. Students learned the appropriate technical and artistic process of singing as a soloist. This workshop concluded with a live in-person concert at the Allan Hancock Fine Arts Recital Hall.
FALL MENTORSHIPS
Self-Expression Through Painting
South County Mentorship with Demi Boelsterli
Under the guidance of multidisciplinary artist Demi Boelsterli in her Funk Zone studio, students were provided with the tools and freedom to create. They also learned the basic elements and principles of design. As the finale, students created artist statements, and had the opportunity to showcase and sell their work through The Arts Fund Community Gallery.
Traditional/Digital Mash-Up
North County Mentorship with Laura-Susan Thomas
Educator and professional artist Laura-Susan Thomas led a mentorship hosted by Allan Hancock College. Featuring written word collectively created by the student artists, participants then created traditionally drawn portraits – that speak and move and show emotions by utilizing accessible motion-capture software. These pieces and their animations were run through an Augmented Reality application, and the work was ready to hang together as an installation in the Community Gallery.
POETRY OUT LOUD
Page to Stage
North County Mentorship
This year we had the opportunity to partner with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture to administer the Poetry Out Loud (POL) Program. POL is made possible through partnership with the National Endowment for Arts, the California Arts Council and the Poetry Foundation. Allan Hancock College, hosted the Regional Poetry Out Loud Competition in their new Fine Arts building. We congratulate Anna Matthews, a Page to Stage mentorship participant, for winning the Regional Champion title! She represented us in the State Competition in March 2024.
