Usdan Center For the Creative & Performing Arts Hosts Open House For Summer 2011

Usdan Center For the Creative and Performing Arts, one of America's largest not-for-profit summer arts camps, whose alumni include Natalie Portman, Seth Rudetsky, Mariah Carey, Jordan Leeds, Lisa Gay Hamilton, jazz singer Jane Monheit and other performers, and which was named a "Best Of Classes and Camps for 2010" by TimeOutNY/Kids, is now preparing an array of new programs and calendar options for the summer of 2011, Usdan's 44th season. To introduce the new programs, as well as Usdan's many continuing programs, the renowned Center will present six Open Houses for the upcoming season, and the dates for these Open Houses are: Sundays: November 7, December 5, 2010, January 23, March 27 and May 15, 2011; and Wednesdays: February 23 and April 20, 2011. The times for each date are 11 AM to 2 PM at Usdan Center's magnificent 200-acre woodland campus, 185 Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights (Huntington), Long Island.

Open houses give prospective students and their families a chance to tour the Center, and to obtain information and answers from the staff about Usdan's more than 40 programs in theater, music, dance, visual arts, creative writing, nature and ecology, and chess. Families who cannot attend an Open House may make an appointment to visit on another date from Monday to Friday. Please call (631) 643-7900, or email info@usdan.com, or visit www.usdan.com.

Usdan Center is always expanding its programs and exploring new areas of arts education, and 2011 will include: Video Game Art and Design (Grades 4 to 12), an introduction to the creation and development of non-violent video games; Introduction to Studio Art: a 4-week introduction, for grades 7-9, to two-dimensional and three-dimensional media; Portfolio Preparation Track (Grades 9-12), which will include a student-selected Art major, plus Painting, Life Drawing, and portfolio development sessions. In addition, Usdan has expanded its choice of 4-week majors for many grades in music, dance, visual arts, nature and ecology and chess.

In other areas, Usdan's successful new program, Organic Gardening and Simple Food, for children in grades K-12, will continue in 2011. A new hillside garden was established for the program, and instruction included the planting and harvest of organic and sustainable food, as well as guest lecturer demonstrations of food preparation by prominent chefs. The program culminated in a sold-out Farmer's Market at Usdan's recent Summer In September event, where a variety of fresh vegetables was sold at low prices, with proceeds going to Usdan's scholarship programs.

Usdan Center has introduced the arts to more than 50,000 Tri-State Area children since its founding in 1968. The Center is open to all young people from age 6 to 18. Usdan's program features more than 40 seven-week programs in music, dance, theater, visual arts, writing, nature & ecology, and chess. No audition is needed for most programs - rather, admission is based on an expression of interest in the arts. Each summer, 1,500 students are transported to the Center in air-conditioned buses each day. One-third of Usdan's students attend on scholarship. Although the mission of the Center is for every child to establish a relationship with the arts, the unique stimulation of the Center has caused many to go on to arts careers. Alumni include members of Broadway shows and major music, theater, and dance ensembles such as the Boston Pops and the New York City Ballet.

In addition to its regular programs, Usdan offers special opportunities for advanced high school-age performing and visual artists. These include Music Staff Internships, a Summer Ballet Intensive, and a program of immersion in the visual arts and college preparation for selected high school students. It is called the Usdan Center Visual Arts Portfolio Preparation Track. Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York.

 

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