Thomasville, Ga. – As local students and schools gear up for classes to begin this week, Thomasville Center for the Arts (TCA) is also in preparation for Fall. Beginning Monday, August 7, the halls and classrooms of the Center’s main building (located at 600 E. Washington Street in the historic East Side School) will be filled with youth from Scott Elementary School, returning after summer break with enthusiasm to continue their weekly rotations through visual art, music, dance and drama classes at TCA. As Thomasville City Schools’ designated Arts-focused elementary school, Scott students reap the benefits of both easy proximity and an array of Fine Arts offerings through TCA’s strong partnership with the City School system.
Starting in September, students from all area public and private schools will begin to visit the Center for Artreach performance field trips, the first being Southern Shakespeare Company’s production of “Stopping at Ellis Island,” a drama geared toward 5th through 8th-grade youth.
In addition to the arts opportunities for youth during the school day, Thomasville Center for the Arts also provides a broad array of after-school arts instruction for youth of all ages under the Art In The Afternoon umbrella. Hosted by the Center’s resident Arts Education Partners (professional artists and instructors in multiple artistic genres), Art In The Afternoon provides children ages two and up with fun
and engaging opportunities to delve deeper into their own personal areas of artistic interest. Longtime art education partner South Georgia Ballet offers afternoon dance instruction at the Center and Versa Musica returns for afternoon music lessons.
New this year, students may explore the visual arts with Wild at heART under the direction of Sara Anders, as well as tap their inner thespian through drama instruction by Hananel Mavity of Phoenix Theatre. Allyson Whittaker of Southwest Georgia Protocol School offers after-school etiquette classes and Kim Pattie will join the Art in the Afternoon lineup in January with Noteworthy Music, featuring a Kindermusik program.
“Thomasville Center for the Arts and South Georgia Ballet have been such a fun addition to our lives,” explains parent Mariam Mirabzadeh. “We have made lifelong friends, and Vivian is in love with her teachers. She talks about ballet all the time and wants to grow up to be a ballerina just like Mrs. Melissa (June)!”
Six-year-old visual art student Spencer Best has enjoyed the wide variety of mediums taught: “I love that we did lots of kinds of art like painting, drawing and paper mâché. And I loved my teacher because she was so helpful.”
Art in the Afternoon is a well-established after-school option for youth education. TCA has received consistent funding over the years, including a Georgia Council for the Arts Partner grant of $10,000 for the upcoming year. The program also receives generous support from the Williams Family Foundation, Thomasville Antique Show Foundation, Thomasville Junior Service League, Singletary Foundation, and W.H. Flowers Foundation, as well as through individual donors.
Research shows that students who study art are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to be awarded for school attendance. To learn more about “Art in the Afternoon” and to register for Fall 2017 classes, which begin in August, please visit thomasvillearts.org (click “Youth Programs”) or call 229-226-0588.
