Jason Earles to Join Line-Up for Community Weekend to Open the New Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The new Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, will hold a FREE Community Weekend presented by Reynolds American and Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company, featuring more than 100 arts and cultural experiences under one roof on September 11 and 12. Joining the festivities from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 11, is Jason Earles, best known for his starring role as Jackson Stewart, Miley Stewart's (played by Miley Cyrus) dorky, annoying brother on the Disney Channel Original Series, Hannah Montana.

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Earles' first acting experience was in a third-grade production of Hansel & Gretel (…and no, he did not play the witch!) He graduated from Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he was active in student government, lacrosse, theater and learned to snowboard. He then attended Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, and toured with the Montana Shakespeare in the Park theater group. He now lives in the L.A. foothills where he rides horses and enjoys his two cats and one dog: Timmy, Presley and Andy.

Earles has guest-starred on TV shows such as The Shield, Boston Legal, Phil of the Future, Still Standing, and One on One.  Always ready for fun, Earles was in the first-ever Disney Channel Games on the victorious Blue Team, along with Cole Sprouse, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and Vanessa Anne Hudgens and starred in the zany Disney Original Movie Dadnapped.

On the big screen, Jason has appeared in American Pie Presents: Band Camp, Hannah Montana: The Movie and the blockbuster National Treasure, with Nicolas Cage where he played Thomas Gates, the stable boy who discovers that America's Founding Fathers hid the "Knights Templar Treasure."

Unlike a lot of actors his age, who merely head to Hollywood without any training or experience, Jason decided to learn everything he could. He studied acting, directing, cold reading (for which he won an AMTC award), and even learned how to Jitter Bug. When Earles wasn't taking lessons, he was amassing four KC/ACTF Irene Ryan nominations for his acting in local plays.

Earles will talk about his experiences as an actor, answer questions from the audience and sign autographs during his appearance at the opening of Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts. This is free and open to the public.

Opening weekend at the Center is jam-packed with experiences for the whole family. The Light Up The Arts Gala with Tony Bennett presented by Hanesbrands Inc. will be a festive party on September 10 from 6 p.m. to midnight, filled with music, drama, laughter and visual delights around every corner of the new building. A performance by 15-time Grammy Award winner, Tony Bennett, is the centerpiece of the evening.

The Center will officially open to the public with a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 11. The Board of Trustees of the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County will welcome distinguished public officials from around the country to the ceremony.

Following the opening ceremony is Community Weekend presented by Reynolds American and Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company.  On Saturday, September 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, September 12, from noon to 5 p.m., more than 100 artistic and cultural experiences will dazzle and delight.  The entire weekend is free and open to the public. Featuring the members and partners of The Arts Council, activities run the gamut from arts and crafts for children, dance performances, professional artist demonstrations and a film festival to music performances, lectures, panel discussions and theatrical extravaganzas. Anchoring the weekend is the premier of Bouncers, a dramatic comedy about a group of working class British bouncers, at work and play, in Hanesbrands Theatre.

For information and tickets to the Gala, contact The Arts Council at 336-722-2585, x1109.  For a completed schedule of more than 100 arts and cultural activities during Community Weekend, visit www.CityOfTheArts.com.

SOURCE The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County