National YoungArts Foundation Expands Opportunities for Emerging Artists

Carolina García Jayaram, President and CEO of the National YoungArts Foundation, today announces a dynamic series of new programs and initiatives that build on the organization's commitment to championing emerging artists.

In addition to its highly competitive application-based program for 15- to 18-year-old artists, the organization is focusing on the next critical juncture in a young artist's life-the transition from student to professional.

New initiatives dedicated to this phase in an artist's life, and YoungArts' growing alumni community of more than 20,000 artists, include opportunities to participate in career development symposia in Los Angeles and New York, an exhibition curated by multidisciplinary artist and YoungArts master teacher Derrick Adams, and an interdisciplinary residency program.

"For more than three decades, we have worked to ensure that this country's best young artists are encouraged to further their training and pursue their artistic path. Today, we expand that support to alumni by offering them new opportunities for professional and artistic advancement in cultural hubs across the country. We hope these new programs will give alumni the tools they need not only to succeed, but to thrive and have a successful career in the arts," said Carolina García Jayaram, YoungArts' President and CEO.

New and Expanded Initiatives
YoungArts is expanding its support across three areas: professional development; artistic development; and presentation opportunities.

Professional Development
Building on the success of YoungArts' model of mentorship with master artists across disciplines, day-long symposia called Up Next will feature talks, workshops and panels that help further prepare YoungArts alumni for successful careers in their artistic fields. Led by industry experts and renowned artists, the symposia will take place in New York on November 6 and Los Angeles on November 13, and will each culminate in a public program.

Artistic Development
Shining a national spotlight on Miami as a place where artists are supported and cultural momentum is growing, YoungArts is offering its alumni with roots in the area an opportunity to participate in In Process: Homecoming, an artist-in-residence program dedicated to collaboration. The program will provide artists with time, space and resources to create work and encourages them to recruit other YoungArts alumni to participate, experiment and innovate with them. At the conclusion of the residency, the artists will showcase their work in the neighborhood where they grew up, further expanding YoungArts' programs into communities throughout Miami.

Presentation Opportunities
The YoungArts Gallery has hosted exhibitions by YoungArts master teachers, winners and alumni, including Olafur Eliasson, Daniel Arsham and Hernan Bas since 2013. This fall, YoungArts will present IMAGINATION LAND: Fantastical Narrative, a group exhibition of works by 11 YoungArts alumni curated by multidisciplinary artist and YoungArts master teacher Derrick Adams. On view from September 9 through Miami Art Week, the exhibition features artists whose works respond to and are in conversation with consumerism, gender roles, the environment, and ceremonial ritual. Including video, sculpture, painting and performative works, the exhibition explores how the mechanics of art production play a major part in the way we see ourselves as products of our surroundings. Artists include YoungArts alumni from the past five years: Elle Cox, Glenn Davis, Su Wan Kim, Mateo Nava, Mika Rosenberg, Sebastian Ruiz, Celia Shaheen, SWAG FUTURE David Correa x Alberto Checa, Cornelius Tulloch, and Wade Winslow.

YoungArts' celebrated Outside the Box series, which features multidisciplinary performances by YoungArts alumni on the YoungArts Plaza will continue on November 4, 2017 with Outside the Box: Yara Travieso. Director and choreographer Yara Travieso, known for creating hybrid works of cinema, opera, theatre and dance, will curate an all-women YoungArts alumni music festival presented within one of her signature immersive set designs and alongside Travieso's cutting-edge transmedia choreography.

Next summer, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, YoungArts will present the first ever Visual Arts Alumni Showcase in Washington, D.C. Notably, for the past 34 years, YoungArts has partnered with the Department of Education on the U.S. Presidential Scholars program and serves as the sole nominating agency for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

Signature Programs
On Tuesday, September 19, the fourth annual YoungArts Awareness Day will inspire emerging artists to apply to the organization's 2018 program and celebrate the outstanding achievements of YoungArts alumni. Thousands of professional artists, master teachers, parents and aspiring artists, will take to social media to share their personal YoungArts stories using the hashtag #becauseofyoungarts.

Through October 13, emerging artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts ages 15-18 or in high school grades 10­-12 are encouraged to apply to YoungArts to participate in one of the most comprehensive programs dedicated to supporting and propelling young artists. YoungArts winners receive the opportunity to participate in intensive programs nationwide; engage with renowned mentors; the chance to be nominated as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts; monetary awards, including prizes of up to $10,000; and ongoing support as they work to achieve their professional and artistic goals. Prospective candidates should submit applications online at youngarts.org/apply.

YoungArts winners are designated as a Finalist, Honorable Mention or Merit winner through a blind adjudication process by an independent panel of highly accomplished artists. The 2018 Finalists, the most talented artists from across the nation, will attend the organization's signature program, National YoungArts Week, in Miami from January 7-14. During the week, winners work with distinguished artists in intensive master classes, workshops and seminars and share their work with the public through performances and screenings at New World Symphony as well as writers' readings and an exhibition curated by Pérez Art Museum Miami Assistant Curator Jennifer Inacio on the YoungArts campus. National YoungArts Week will culminate with the YoungArts Backyard Ball performance and gala. The event, presented by Max Mara, celebrates the year's outstanding YoungArts winners and raises funds to support YoungArts programs.

YoungArts' 2018 regional programs in Miami, Los Angeles and New York will take place in February, March and April, respectively. Modeled after National YoungArts Week, these programs are open to winners from all award levels and offer life-changing experiences, guidance and support to YoungArts winners nationwide through interdisciplinary workshops, seminars and master classes with renowned leaders in their fields, and opportunities to engage with local audiences in their communities.

Additional information on YoungArts' new initiatives and programming will be announced in the coming months and available at youngarts.org.

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify and nurture the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts, and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development. Through a wide range of annual programs, regular performances, and partnerships with some of the nation's leading cultural institutions, YoungArts aspires to create a strong community of alumni and a platform for a lifetime of encouragement, opportunity and support.

YoungArts' signature program is an application-based award for emerging artists ages 15-18 or in grades 10-12 from across the United States. Selected through a blind adjudication process, YoungArts winners receive valuable support, including financial awards of up to $10,000, professional development and educational experiences working with renowned mentors-such as Debbie Allen, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rebecca Walker, Plácido Domingo, Frank Gehry, Jeff Koons, Wynton Marsalis, Salman Rushdie and Carrie Mae Weems-and performance and exhibition opportunities at some of the nation's leading cultural institutions, including The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), The Museum of Modern Art (New York) and New World Center (Miami). Additionally, YoungArts winners are eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students who exemplify academic and artistic excellence.

YoungArts winners become part of a thousands-strong alumni network of artists, which offers them additional professional opportunities throughout their careers. YoungArts alumni who have gone on to become leading professionals in their fields include actresses Viola Davis, Anna Gunn, Zuzanna Szadkowski and Kerry Washington; Broadway stars Raúl Esparza, Billy Porter, Andrew Rannells and Tony Yazbeck; recording artists Josh Groban, Judith Hill and Chris Young; Metropolitan Opera star Eric Owens; musicians Terence Blanchard, Gerald Clayton, Jennifer Koh and Elizabeth Roe; choreographers Camille A. Brown and Desmond Richardson; visual artists Daniel Arsham and Hernan Bas; internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Doug Aitken; New York Times bestselling author Sam Lipsyte; and Academy Award winners Doug Blush and Tarell Alvin McCraney.

For more information, visit youngarts.org, Facebook or Twitter. To watch a brief video about YoungArts, click here.