Area Teens Invited to Sharon Arts School for Annual ArtAttack:  Friday, April 1^st
A Night of Creativity for Teens by Teens – RESCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 29th

The nonprofit Sharon Arts School of Art and Craft invites teens from throughout the Monadnock region, their friends and the general public to the school in Sharon, NH on Friday, April 1st, 2011, from 6pm to midnight for the 3rd annual “ArtAttack” – (RESCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 29th, DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER,) a night of unlimited creativity designed by teens for teens.  The all-inclusive ticket cost ($15) provides creative teens from across southern New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts with unparalleled access to a fun night of: painting and drawing, ceramics, jewelry design, wire sculpture, fashion fun, body painting and more, all under the direction of experienced Sharon Arts faculty and volunteers. Participants under 18 are required to have their pre-purchased ticked signed by a parent/guardian, or to bring a parent to sign a ticket at the door.

Designed to provide safe, fun, and creative beyond-school programming, Sharon Arts Center’s Youth and Teen programs have grown exponentially in recent years. From Summer ArtVenture Camp and After School Clay Clubs, to ArtAccess, an innovative year-long portfolio development program serving high schoolers from ConVal, Conant, Mascenic and other schools, Sharon Arts has become a magnet for creative youth in the Monadnock Region and beyond! Expanded scholarship opportunities have recently provided even more access to SAC programs and events in response to the needs of area families during this economic downturn.

The annual ArtAttack event began in 2008 as a means to expand the reach of the ArtAccess portfolio program to the peers of participants. In an effort to provide teens with a safe and fun alternative to the limited teen activities in the rural Monadnock region, portfolio program participants designed ArtAttack to simulate the college art environment by providing teen artists with a fun, nurturing place to become immersed in visual art, above and beyond the classroom.  Planned by teens, for teens, the event has become the highlight of the season for many participants who learn of the event largely via word of mouth, at their high schools, and through the program’s active Facebook page. In recent years, the event has drawn between 150 and 200 teen artists from across the Monadnock Region.  Sharon Arts provides faculty, materials, use of 6 state-of-the-art studios as well as ample volunteer chaperones to provide added supervision and safety for the event.

Lauryn Welch, a ConVal graduate and current student at Rhode Island School of Design participated in ArtAccess for several years, was an intern for the program, and plans to return this year as a volunteer.  “I can’t wait to come home and volunteer at ArtAttack over Spring Break,” explained Welch. “My involvement in ArtAccess and my active participation in ArtAttack is a special time I’ll never forget, and I’m excited to share it with another generation of artists!”

“Sharon Arts is excited to provide this opportunity to area teens,” cites SAC School Director, Alexandra Wall. “This event is magical and gives young artists in our community a safe and encouraging place to let their creativity run wild!”

This year’s ArtAttack will feature: Paint Rumpus Room: Using unusual tools (squirt guns, slides, balloons with darts, etc) to make marks in a paper covered room; Paperland: Paper will take on new dimensions as people create collaborative giant paper sculptures and origami, using cardboard, newspaper, papier mache, etc. and design their own moving paper puppets for a grand finale puppet show at the end of the night; T-shirt factory: Using a wide variety of mark-making techniques folks will print, stamp, paint, and texturize t-shirts (bring your own, or buy one for $2), then tailor/reconstruct it your own way, or use directions provided. Then, the dyes will be broken out, to add even more character. Figure Drawing: guided drawing from live models (after midnight ,18+); Mixed Media Mechanisms: Wire, found objects, and small sheet metal will be the materials employed to make art that may even move!  After 10pm, this studio will switch to a body art room, with Henna and facepainting. Ceramics: This clay studio will be open for clay play including a constantly evolving group sculpture, and a big bowl production effort for the SAC school’s “Empty Bowls Project”; Glass bead and sculpture lampworking in the Glass Studio.

Admission paid to the event covers use of all materials and tools and helps to raise much-needed funds to support the ArtAccess teen portfolio program and to provide scholarship funds, resources, and expanded opportunities to the program’s participants including an annual art city overnight trip planned for June 2011.

There will be pizza and goodies for sale. Everyone will be welcome 6pm-midnight, and those who are 18+ can until 2am. Volunteers, and monetary and in-kind (food, raffle prize) donations to support this event are welcome: please contact Alexandra Wall at 603-924-7256 x3 or via email Alexandra@sharonarts.org.

ArtAttack Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=158592204196865
ArtAccess Webpage: http://www.sharonarts.org/education/artaccess
ArtAttack Poster: http://www.sharonarts.org/happenings/events/artattack

About Sharon Arts Center: The mission of Sharon Arts Center, a non-profit organization, is to support and serve artists and craftspeople, to engage the community in the artistic process, and to foster the relationship between artists and the community through education, exhibitions, the promotion and sale of art and craft, as well as through special programs and events.

Sharon Arts Center is sponsored in part by The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, The Susan A. & Donald P. Babson Charitable Foundation, The Bean Foundation, The Max & Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Grimshaw- Gudewicz Charitable Foundation, The Kingsbury Foundation, and art lovers like you!