PRESS RELEASE OUT:
The 7th Annual ARTS Experience, a festival celebrating inclusion and the arts, begins Friday, April 1 and continues through Friday, April 8, 2016. The festival unites the Hobart and William Smith Colleges community, people with developmental disabilities, and the general public to explore various means of expression through the arts. The festival features workshops and events that are free, wheelchair accessible, open to the public, and take place at the Geneva Community Center (April 1) and on the HWS Campus (April 4-8). Approximately 1,000 attendees are expected.
Throughout the Festival: Twenty-four events, including twenty workshops in creative movement and dance, visual arts, and music will take place throughout the festival. Workshops require registration at www.hws.edu/festival. The public is also invited to view an art exhibit celebrating local artists with and without disabilities during the gala finale on Friday, April 8 which will feature a performance by the nationally-renowned band FLAME (http://www.flametheband.com/).
Arts Workshops: Representative workshops include: Jazz Music & Painting, led by Kevin Carr, Geneva Boys and Girls Club; Drum-making and Drum-Circle, led by Katie Smith and Amanda Tallcot, Arc of Seneca Cayuga, Sharing Stories: Memory Quilt, led by Natalie Reichel, United Cerebral Palsy of NYC, and Move-Ability, co-led by HWS student Jesse Singleton and HWS Professor Donna Davenport.
Events: Many exciting events also comprise the 2016 festival calendar. Highlights include a talk by Carrie Bergeron, sharing about her experiences as a self-advocate with Down syndrome, and a screening of the award-winning documentary “Shooting Beauty,” which includes a talk by photographers from Arc of Livingston-Wyoming who participated in the 100 Cameras Project highlighted in the documentary.
Gala Finale: The festival closes with its signature Gala event on Friday, April 8, featuring the band FLAME, an interactive movement chorus performance with Professor Cadence Whittier and students from Hillside Children’s Center, live painting with local artist Filomena Jack, Lego creations by teen brick builders from Ontario Arc’s Autism Center, an art exhibit from local artists, along with opening remarks from HWS President Mark Gearan and Barb Wales, Board President of the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes, Inc.
The festival is a collaboration of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and
the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes, Inc., a network of twelve NYSARC, Inc. chapters
providing supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Please visit www.hws.edu/festival for the festival schedule and workshop and event information. Attached is the calendar of events for easy reference.
