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May 2, 2005 Presented At Zeum and Yerba Buena Gardens FREE Community Event Inside this Document:
2005 Youth Arts Festival: Overview of Festivities "The Youth Arts Festival is the only showcase of its kind that serves all of San Francisco’s K-12 public, private and parochial school students,” says Youth Arts Festival Director, Scott Hindman. “These are the future artists, performers and art patrons of tomorrow who need to be recognized and nurtured today." Beginning with the Opening Day Spectacular on Saturday, May 7th through Sunday, May 15th, over sixty multi-disciplinary San Francisco arts organizations will perform, exhibit and provide hands-on workshops for K-12 youth at Zeum and Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco. On Saturday, May 7th, visitors are invited to enjoy the Best of the Sun and Moon Ensemble, as mythical and magical large-scale puppets lead masked characters and musicians in a processional parade. The jubilant entourage will pass through the various festival sights at Zeum and Yerba Buena Gardens, and kick off the Opening Day Spectacular, which will continue with lively multi-cultural youth dance performances on outdoor stages! The Visual Art Exhibition in Zeum’s Main Gallery showcases spectacular works by K-12 students from San Francisco’s public, private, and parochial schools. Outside, Yerba Buena Gardens will be abuzz with the sights and sounds of young performance artists and art-making activities. The Arte Di Gesso Chalk Mural Project allows San Francisco high school artists to demonstrate their extraordinary creative talents as they collaborate on a chalk art mural under the guidance of Arte de Leone. Visitors are also invited to browse the booths at the Arts Providers Faire to discover all the wonderful arts organizations and arts resources available in San Francisco for summer camps, after-school programs, and arts education. Throughout the Youth Arts Festival, Yerba Buena Gardens and Zeum will be filled with exceptional, non-stop activities, events, student performances, hands-on art projects, demonstrations, and entertainment. All Youth Arts Festival events, performances and exhibits are FREE to the public! “This collection of vibrant, imaginative art is an incredible showcase of the rich diversity and creative talent of our San Francisco youth," says Zeum’s CEO, Adrienne Pon. “We’re thrilled to host the Youth Arts Festival for the fourth year in a row.” In addition to hosting the Visual Arts Exhibition, Zeum offers festival attendees the chance to explore its innovative arts and technology programs and exhibits free of charge. Visitors can make a clay animation, produce and star in a music video, or experiment with digital art. These popular ongoing Zeum programs will be FREE to the public during the Youth Arts Festival. Over 8,000 children representing 226 schools throughout San Francisco will actively participate or showcase their work in the 2005 Youth Arts Festival. Of these participants, 2,500 youth will be showcased through the visual art exhibition or in live performances on stage. Over 350 local students and adult volunteers will help run the Festival events and approximately 20,000 people are expected to attend over the course of the nine days of the Festival at Zeum and Yerba Buena Gardens. All students in San Francisco’s public, private, independent and parochial schools are eligible to participate in the Festival. The San Francisco Youth Arts Festival is presented by RBC Dain Rauscher in partnership with the San Francisco Chronicle and Levi Strauss & Co. Additional support is made possible through grants from the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, Winston & Strawn Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, Ewald Foundation, and other generous contributors. Supported in part by a grant from Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax fund. The 2005 Youth Arts Festival is a collaborative project of the San Francisco Unified School District, Zeum, and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. All festival activities are free and wheel chair accessible. For more information and a complete schedule of events, please call 415.750.8630 or visit the Youth Arts web site at www.sfyouthartsfestival.org.
More About The Opening Day Performance by Sun and Moon Ensemble For four consecutive years, Sun & Moon Ensemble has performed at the Youth Arts Festival in Yerba Buena Gardens and continues to appear in the Gardens throughout the summer season. In 2005, the tradition continues with The Best of Sun & Moon Ensemble—a collection of new work as well as old favorites from the ensemble’s repertoire. Sun & Moon productions involve theatre, dance, movement, masked characters, giant puppets, and live music, for an audience of all ages and backgrounds. Choreographed scenes and processions are interspersed with spontaneous audience interaction, and the handcrafted puppets, masks, and costumes in the productions are works of art in themselves. Under Maria Lexa’s direction, the performers, along with local professional musicians, develop their original creative works. In this year’s presentation, the ensemble will present a new production entitled Krishna and Radha, ancient myths and legends from India about the flute-playing god Krishna and his consort, the beautiful cowherdess Radha, and their stories of love and enchantment in a magical forest. Maria Lexa, who worked for 20 years at the forefront of the European theatre scene as director, performer, and master teacher, has been artistic director of Sun & Moon Ensemble since its founding in 2001.
More About the Juried Visual Arts Exhibition at Zeum Zeum's Main Gallery will open its doors on Saturday, May 7 with a vibrant and impressive display of some of San Francisco’s most talented young artists. Over 1,000 works of visual art will fill the gallery walls, from floor to ceiling, with framed paintings, textiles, ceramics, sculpture, photography, furniture, graphics, illustration, and more! This is the premier work by San Francisco’s K-12 students from all corners of the city, including student work from the public schools, private schools, community centers and after school programs. This year the San Francisco Youth Arts Festival celebrates its 19th year cultivating, collecting and exhibiting outstanding works of visual art created by San Francisco’s talented students. Student work that is submitted to the San Francisco Youth Arts Festival begins creation many months in advance, with each participating school or organization selecting their best representative works by K-12 student artists. The exhibition features collaborative projects by groups of students, community projects, artistic portfolios, digital art and art made from recycled materials. Visual art submitted to the San Francisco Youth Arts Festival is reviewed by a prestigious panel of judges. This panel is made up of professional artists from the local community who volunteer their time to judge the art exhibition. Each student submission is carefully reviewed by the judges, and specifically awarded for artists’ demonstration of innovative expression, technique and artistic value within distinct visual arts categories of illustration, photography, graphics, sculpture, etc. The most exceptional artwork created by middle and high school students is given a Bronze, Silver or Gold Key Award, and is presented as the “Best of Show” for the visual arts exhibition, and literary arts collection. This unique visual arts exhibition truly demonstrates an exceptional vitality, diversity and artistic expression across all mediums of the visual arts. The Zeum Gallery will be open daily during Youth Arts Festival from 11am to 5pm from Saturday, May 7 to Sunday May 15, 2005. Entry to the exhibition is free to students, families, teachers and the general public. For more information, please call the San Francisco Youth Arts Festival office at 415.750.8630.
More About the Arts Provider Faire The Arts Provider Faire gives visitors an opportunity to learn about all the arts resources available to them. Arts organizations and educators will offer information about summer camps, school field trips, after school programs, and more! Information tables will be set up outside Zeum to make planning for after school arts classes and summer programs easy. Information about summer camps, after school programs, careers in the arts and art schools as well as special arts programs and resources, will be available throughout the day, along with free books, brochures and arts resource information.
More About the Arte di Gesso Chalk Mural Project Arte Di Gesso Chalk Mural Project will come to life in the Zeum courtyard, beginning Youth Arts Festival Opening Day. Inspired by 16th century Italian art and master chalk artist and California arts educator, Genna Panzerella, kids of all ages will participate in creating a 219 square “quilt of chalk” directly outside the Zeum entrance. Young high school artists will be inspired to create their own expression using the chalk medium within each square-foot section of the “quilt”. Each individual square will have a thread linking it to the next panel. At the center of the mural will be a pinwheel created by several student veterans of the Arte di Gesso mural project, which will be drawn by student artists from School of the Arts. Arte di Gesso is a site specific performance art project. It is a public manifestation of the creative process drawing the creator and the audience together in a unique opportunity of creative public meeting, following the 16th century Italian tradition. The project serves as a public educational medium for young students to develop their artistic, communication and community skills. Artist Danny Leone has inspired the Arte di Gesso Chalk Mural Project for Youth Arts Festival. Since 1995, Leone has organized public murals throughout San Francisco including the Annual North Beach Festival, the M.H. de Young Museum, and Urban Arts Earth Day Celebration. Additionally, Arte di Gesso has been featured at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Italian Chalk Competition. For more information, please contact Danny Leone, 415.989.6426.
More About Partners and Supporters of the 2005 Youth Arts Festival RBC Dain Rauscher in partnership with Levi Strauss & Co., and the San Francisco Chronicle Additional support from: The 2005 San Francisco Youth Arts Festival is a collaborative project of the San Francisco Unified School District, Zeum, and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.
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