NEW YORK, March 8, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (NYCDA) today proudly announced the recipients of its fourth annual "Your Start in the Arts" grant awards. As a prominent performing arts conservatory, the New York Conservatory is committed to supporting underfunded high school drama and theater departments and clubs through its yearly "Your Start in the Arts" grant. The program offers a series of $1,000 grants each year to help drama educators purchase equipment or produce plays, to be used at the discretion of the high school drama faculty.
Each fall during National Arts & Humanities Month, The New York Conservatory accepts nominations from high school students around the country who answer a short online questionnaire about what drama education offers them and why their school should receive the grant. A panel of senior NYCDA faculty review the submissions and vote for the most compelling cases for support.
"This year's 'Your Start in the Arts' grant submissions continue to illustrate the growing challenges faced by our school systems and their drama departments during the past two years," said Richard Omar, president and artistic director at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. "At the same time, they reveal so much resiliency. The incredible creativity, passion and perseverance of these young drama students and their dedicated educators make us very proud to recognize these outstanding high school teachers and drama departments."
The New York Conservatory's Your Start in the Arts 2022 grant winners are:
- Baltimore School for the Arts, Baltimore, MD.: The school will allow the grant to revitalize its drama department's script library, focusing on plays of the moment, written by a contemporary, diverse group of playwrights; update its pedagogical resources, focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion in theatre education; and finally, provide a new text department-wide that helps broaden its students' worldview and cultural sensitivity.
- Denzel Washington School of the Arts, Mount Vernon, NY: The high school drama department will use the grant to help to continue its efforts to convert the drama classroom into a semi-black box theater space and purchase sound, lighting equipment, and props/costumes.
- Ironwood High School, Glendale, AZ: The grant money will be used to enhance the school's production of The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore, including the purchase of hair and makeup special effects, props, and building materials for the scenery and pay for costume rentals.
- Gate City High School, Gate City, VA: The New York Conservatory's Your Start in the Arts grant will go toward making sure the school's talented drama students are given the opportunity to continue doing what they love by providing the drama department with better equipment, software and costumes.
- Gorham High School, Gorham, ME: The grant funding will help the school address much-needed improvements to its lighting system in order to make full use of the meaning and power that excellent lighting design contributes to storytelling on stage. It will also enable technical theater students the opportunity to learn on equipment that would be relevant to the theater world outside of the school's auditorium.
- Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, MO: With this grant, the school will be able to perform a yearly musical -- the first time in the school's history that they will be able to perform two musicals two years in a row.
- Pinckney Community High School, Pinckney, MI: The school will use the grant funds to replace its microphones, provide up-to-date training on the lighting system, and fulfill one of the students' biggest wants -- a solid, functioning ghost light.
- Phil Campbell High School, Phil Campbell, AL: The monies from the grant will be used to further the students' love of the dramatic arts with much-needed funding for costumes, props, scripts, and more.
- Stilwell High School, Stilwell, OK: The "Your Start in the Arts" grant will enable the school to produce its first full-length production since 2019. This will not only provide a valuable experience for the students but will also serve to bring the Stilwell community together to experience theatre.
To learn more about the "Your Start in the Arts" grant program, please visit https://www.nycda.edu/your-start-in-the-arts/. Full grant and participation rules can be found here https://www.nycda.edu/your-start-in-the-arts-grant-contest-full-rules/
About The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts enables students to define their unique brand as an actor by discovering who they are as a person. We practice a highly personalized approach to training--placing acting and storytelling at the core--offering immersive, disciplined, and focused professional training programs designed to give students the tools and techniques they need for successful careers in today's industry. Our living curriculum is writing itself every day, created and shaped by NYCDA's working actor faculty and student community to deliver a dynamic learning experience. The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts is an institutionally accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre. NYCDA's Associate in Occupational Studies (AOS) degree programs in Film and Television Performance, and in Musical Theater Performance are registered by the New York State Board of Regents. Learn more about NYCDA at http://www.nycda.edu.
Media Contact
Molly Elliott, The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, 1 212.228.4620, [email protected]
Carol Hickins, The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, 6463453954, [email protected]
SOURCE The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts
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