New Format Allows CFCArts Academy to Serve More

Central Florida Community Arts has announced new classes and formats that allow the longstanding Academy program to reach more learners of all ages in the region. The CFCArts Academy offers intensive workshops and multi-week classes designed to help people build skills and confidence in the arts.

Academy Manager Erin Wolfe, who has worked with CFCArts since 2016, will continue strategic and creative oversight of the program.

“The Academy has always been an arena for growth,” Wolfe said. “I speak from experience, as the Academy was my first introduction to CFCArts as a teacher, and I am proud to say that all of the beautiful things that have happened to me in the last seven years with this organization are because of that first step. Students typically come out of our classes a little braver and a little more confident, not only in their art but also in their lives.”

Classes for fall 2023 include the return of the Cabaret Studio class for adults, and a new teen cabaret class experience, where young performers will learn about the structure and repertoire selection of cabaret-style performances, then select music and write stories to perform in their own cabaret.

“I am particularly excited for our Teen Cabaret Studio class this season, as we give our teenagers the space and the freedom to be themselves—to write their own script and see how they can find their own story in the music that they love,” Wolfe said. “I am also really excited to bring some new experiences for young adults that we didn't always have the bandwidth before to do.”

One and two-day workshops will be added to the schedule, including educational programs already offered through community partnerships, now available to the public for the first time. These workshops, starting with improv and audition workshops for all ages in the fall, will bring more opportunities to learn and develop new artistic skills while providing a social and creative outlet for participants.

CFCArts is also asking the community what kind of classes they’d like to see offered, planning ahead for future in a survey now available on their website. Students seeking private instruction can find a list of teachers, with whom CFCArts has worked in the past, on the Academy website.

CEO of CFCArts Terrance Hunter said, “This shift really allows us to craft specific experiences tailored to broader groups of our community. It’s an expansion—an evolution—that gives us greater freedom to listen to what our people want and then create that for them. We’re so excited to explore new ways to introduce individuals to the arts and show them that here, they have a place to belong.”

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