Thomasville Center for the Arts prepares for Youth Arts Month

Published 8:52 am Saturday, February 25, 2023

THOMASVILLE- The Thomasville Center for the Arts will be celebrating Youth Arts Month throughout March, with various opportunities for children of all ages. 

The month celebrates arts of all forms- dance, music, performing arts and visual arts. It will kick off with a YAM (Youth Arts Month) exhibit and awards ceremony on March 2, before concluding on March 25 with the Thomasville Entertainment Foundation series “Meeting Mozart.” 

According to K-12 Programs Director, Janet Cable, the exhibition will feature artwork from k-12 students in Grady County and Thomas County. 

“Every participating art teacher put in a certain number of pieces and they’re all entered into a competition, where there will be finalists in each grade bracket,” Cable explained. 

The grade brackets are K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. 

“We will pick three finalists from each bracket and they will win a small cash prize,” Cable said. “They will be honored on the night of the opening exhibition and recognized.” 

The finalists will be indicated by a ribbon hanging next to their artwork throughout the duration of the exhibit. 

Cable is excited to see the students’ reactions, as she said this is the first year the exhibition has included K-12. 

“It was previously only open to high school students, but when I met with the art teachers over the summer all of the different schools wanted to participate,” she said. 

Other opportunities for artists throughout the month will include a visual arts scholarship, along with a performing arts scholarship. 

“It will be open to high school seniors who want to study the arts somehow in their post-secondary education,” Cable explained. “They can study visual arts, arts education, ceramics, just something in the art field.” 

The scholarship recipient will receive $1,000 toward their school of choice. 

Students applying for the performing arts scholarship will have the chance to perform in front of a live audience at the Thomasville Performing Arts Concert on March 5, at 4 p.m. with the recipients being named following the performances. 

Later in the month, students of all ages can join the Center for the Arts during the Second Saturday YAM Celebration, which will feature Thomas County Central’s art and band students. 

The art students will be leading families and kids in art activities, while the band performs. 

“The idea is for it to be youth-led, youth-driven and youth-focused,” Cable said. 

Following the Second Saturday activities, YAM will closeout with TEF Series “Meeting Mozart,” which will be free to the public. 

Cable looks forward to seeing everyone in attendance and celebrating the young, creative minds, bringing a vibrant, new spirit into the Center for the Arts.