National YoungArts Foundation Announces Call For 2016 Applications

MIAMI, April 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts), the non-profit organization that recognizes and nurtures the nation's most talented young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts, announced that applications to become a 2016 YoungArts Winner will be accepted from April 21, 2015 through October 16, 2015. Young artists between the ages of 15 and 18 or in high school grades 10-12 (as of December 1, 2015) across the nation are encouraged to apply online at http://www.youngarts.org/apply.

The YoungArts application consists of ten disciplines to which young artists may apply: Cinematic Arts, Dance, Design Arts, Jazz, Music, Photography, Theater, Visual Arts, Voice, and Writing. This year, YoungArts is launching Spoken Word as a category within the Writing discipline. As with all other Writing genres and YoungArts disciplines, the artists selected as YoungArts Winners in this category will benefit from life-changing opportunities at critical junctures throughout their careers.

YoungArts Winners are selected annually through a blind adjudication process and are designated into three categories: Finalist, Honorable Mention, and Merit. Finalists are eligible to participate in National YoungArts Week in Miami in January 2016, and all Winners are eligible to participate in one of YoungArts' regional programs – YoungArts Miami, YoungArts Los Angeles and YoungArts New York – space permitting. In addition, Finalists and Honorable Mention Winners receive monetary recognition from YoungArts.

YoungArts Winners have the chance to work with renowned mentors, such as Marina Abramović, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Frank Gehry, Jeff Koons, Wynton Marsalis, Robert Redford, Rebecca Walker and Bruce Weber; receive cash awards of up to $10,000 (YoungArts has bestowed more than $12 million in monetary awards to date); gain access to significant scholarships (YoungArts has facilitated in excess of $60 million in scholarship opportunities in the past two years); be recognized as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts (YoungArts is the exclusive nominating agency for this high honor for artistically-talented graduating high school seniors); and perform and exhibit their work at some of the nation's leading cultural institutions, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.), MoMA (New York) and New World Center (Miami).

"I encourage all aspiring young artists to apply to our 2016 program, and hope that teachers, mentors and parents will help spread the word and support the talented young artists they know," said Lisa Leone, Vice President of Artistic Programs for the National YoungArts Foundation. "We offer young artists the extraordinary opportunity to come together and learn from renowned leaders in their fields, master teachers and fellow emerging artists; share their talents with the public; and be recognized on a national platform for their accomplishments. Time and time again, I am amazed by the artistry of our Winners, and I look forward to seeing what this class brings."

YoungArts Winners also become part of the YoungArts alumni  network of 20,000-plus artists, many of whom have gone on to become leading professionals in their fields. Several YoungArts alumni have joined YoungArts in its effort to support emerging artists from around the nation by taking part in this year's application campaign. The 2016 application campaign features artist Daniel Arsham; five-time Grammy Award–winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard; two-time Emmy Award-winning actress Anna Gunn; choreographer, répétiteur and former New York City Ballet principal dancer Philip Neal; Tony Award-nominated Broadway performer Desmond Richardson; pianist and composer Conrad Tao; So You Think You Can Dance Season 11 winner Ricky Ubeda; Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated actress Kerry Washington; and RCA Records award-winning singer/songwriter and Grammy Award-nominated artist Chris Young.

"YoungArts is a program all aspiring artists should experience, regardless of discipline," remarked 2003 YoungArts Winner in Voice and U. S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts Chris Young. "My time there definitely impacted me and helped me grow as a musician. YoungArts is something I'm exceedingly proud to be associated with."

Eligibility and Award Information
To be eligible for recognition by YoungArts, applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 18 or in high school grades 10-12 (as of December 1, 2015); either a United States citizen, a permanent resident or an international student studying on a student visa; and must demonstrate excellence in the visual, literary, design or performing arts.

All applicants have the choice to be added to the YoungArts Student List Service (SLS), a subscription service that provides college, university and conservatory admissions representatives with links to each student's audition portfolio, providing them with important information about the student's artistic achievements.

If students have any questions, they can reach programming staff at (305) 377-1140 or [email protected].

YoungArts Disciplines and Subcategories
The YoungArts application consists of ten disciplines across the visual, literary, design and performing arts. They are listed below alongside the respective subcategories to which students may apply:

• Cinematic Arts
• Dance: Ballet, Choreography, Hip Hop, Jazz, Modern, Tap, World Dance (various forms)
• Design Arts
• Jazz: Composition and Instrumental (various)
• Music: Composition and Instrumental (various)
• Photography
• Theater
• Visual Arts          
• Voice: Classical, Jazz, Popular and Singer/Songwriter
• Writing: Creative Non-Fiction, Novel, Play or Script, Poetry, Short Story, Spoken Word

YoungArts Week and Regional Programs
All of the year's Finalists from across the nation are invited to National YoungArts Week in Miami each January, where they participate in a week of intensive master classes and workshops with internationally-renowned artists. Finalists also have the opportunity to share their work with the public each evening through performances, readings, exhibitions and screenings. During National YoungArts Week, students are further evaluated and awards of up to $10,000 are determined. Nominations for that year's U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts—the highest award that can be given to any artistically-talented high school senior in the United States—are also made, as YoungArts is the exclusive nominating agency for this honor.

Modeled after the transformative experience of National YoungArts Week, regional programs across the country in New York, Los Angeles and Miami extend recognition, resources and opportunities to YoungArts Winners of all levels, space permitting. During regional programs, participants are further evaluated and are eligible for awards of up to $5,000, and can be considered for a U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts nomination for the following year.

2015 YoungArts Winners
Selected out of approximately 11,000 applications, 786 YoungArts Winners were recognized for their outstanding work across the visual, literary, design and performing arts fields. A complete list of the 2015 Winners is available here: 2015 YoungArts Winners.

Carnival Foundation is the YoungArts National Premier Sponsor.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL YOUNGARTS FOUNDATION
The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify and support the next generation of artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts; assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development; and raise appreciation for the arts in American society. Each year, there are approximately 11,000 applications to YoungArts from 15-18 year old (or grades 10-12) artists, and from these, approximately 800 winners are selected.

YoungArts provides these emerging artists with life-changing experiences and validation by renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition and other opportunities at critical junctures throughout their careers to help ensure that the nation's most outstanding emerging artists are encouraged to pursue careers in the arts. To date, YoungArts has honored more than 20,000 alumni, including Doug Aitken, Josh Groban, Jenji Kohan, Desmond Richardson and Kerry Washington, with over $12 million in monetary awards; facilitated in excess of $60 million in college scholarship opportunities in the past two years; and enabled its participants to work with master teachers who are among the most distinguished artists in the world, such as Marina Abramović, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Zaha Hadid, Jeff Koons, Robert Redford and Bruce Weber. 

YoungArts is working with world-renowned architect and YoungArts Artistic Advisor Frank Gehry to transform the former Bacardi Tower and Museum buildings and three-and-a-half acre campus into its national headquarters, which will support expanded local activities in Miami and across the country. The new campus will feature a Gehry-designed performing arts center and park with state-of-the-art sound and video capabilities. Since opening the campus for programming in November 2013, YoungArts has held salons sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with Marina Abramović, Robert Redford, Justin Peck & Sufjan Stevens, Joshua Bell, Ben Folds and Lil Buck; hosted Olafur Eliasson and his Little Sun installation in partnership with MoMA PS1 and Fondation Beyeler; launched a Visual Artist in Residency program supported by The Related Group; held master classes for local music students with jazz icon Wynton Marsalis and opera star Plácido Domingo; produced an interdisciplinary performance on the campus with Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars Redford, Living Colour's Will Calhoun, and YoungArts alumni Dave Eggar and Desmond Richardson; premiered HBO's Joshua Bell: A YoungArts MasterClass; and hosted a concert series in partnership with III Points presents featuring FKA twigs, James Blake and SBTRKT.

For more information, visit youngarts.org, facebook.com/YoungArtsFoundation or twitter.com/YoungArts. To watch a brief video about YoungArts, click here.             

Media Contacts: 
Heather Schatz, National YoungArts Foundation
[email protected] / 305-377-1140

Julia An, Polskin Arts & Communications Counselors
[email protected] / 212-583-2743

SOURCE National YoungArts Foundation

Related Links

http://www.youngarts.org