NEIU 19, Arts in Education Northeast Pennsylvania, The Ritz Theater, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts hosted a special program entitled “The Convening” on Wednesday, Oct. 16. It was a Day of Art Workshops based on Academic Standards taught by Nationally Recognized Artists. Students and teachers from a variety of local districts including Western Wayne experienced art workshops in visual arts, theater and music contingent on their respective areas of teaching/ study.
The four senior students who participated from Western Wayne included: Lillian Maros, Colette Schmitt, Stephanie Maxwell, and Robert Scramuzza. They did a variety of workshop sessions. One was with Tara Middleton, Grammy nominee vocalist, who worked with the students in a jazz vocals session. She explained to students that along with the technical aspects of learning music that they have to be present in their performance as well. “You have to be free enough to be in the moment when you are performing,” she explained to the students.
For another session, the performance arts students worked with Conor McGuigan, an actor and writer from Scranton who performs throughout the area and off-Broadway. He helped the students tap into a variety of characters from Italian theater in his workshop with a focus on comedic timing. Also, the students got to end their day with the Kofi and Sankofa Drum & Dance Ensemble in which they were fully immersed in learning about culture, musical instruments, and dance.
In addition, there were a variety of raffle prizes given out at this event and Western Wayne was the only school to win a raffle drawing for a five-day Artist in Residence Program for their Drama Club. The prize is a 1,000 dollar value. They will have the opportunity to work with a professional artist to help them further develop their performance arts skills. The Artist in Residence Program will be scheduled in correspondence with the school’s musical director and the NEIU.
The Western Wayne Drama Club is extremely thankful to have won this experience and look forward to learning even more about their craft through it. “We were really excited for all of the classes we took at the Convening,” Lillian Maros, Drama Club president, said. “It was an added special bonus to know that we have won, through luck of the draw, five more hours of experience with a talented local artist of our choosing.” From left: Conor McGuigan, Lillian Maros, Stephanie Maxwell, Colette Schmitt, and Robert Scramuzza.
