Atlantic County Teen Arts Festival draws 1300 to downtown
Wednesday, May 8, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
ARTS, from Page 1
tive in and passionate about the
fine and performing arts that al-
lows them showcase their abilities
and receive valuable feedback
from professionals in the field and
their peers.
In 2015, the Atlantic County
Arts Festival moved to Hammon-
ton after previously being held on
Stockton University’s main cam-
pus in Galloway Twp.
This year’s festival featured a
total of 14 venues, where students
could participate in various hands-
on workshops and classes focused
on a wide range of art forms.
Hammonton High School
(HHS) senior student and chorus
member Katie Weikle participated
in the festival for the third time as
a vocal performer. She said the
Teen Arts Festival provides a rare
and valuable opportunity for a
performance artist like herself be-
cause of the presence of profes-
sional adjudicators that provide
constructive critiques on the per-
formances they see and hear.
“It means a lot because we al-
ways want to try to be better. And
hearing stuff like that from people
who are more experienced than us
or who know a lot more than we
do as seniors in high school is re-
ally helpful,” Weikle said.
The Teen Arts Festival is known
for its diversity in the disciplines
and subject matter it dedicates its
activities to. Mainland Regional
High School senior student and
acoustic guitarist Hunter Rich said
what he enjoys the most about the
festival is its ability to bring so
many people together in a positive
and expressive setting, regardless
of what form of art they are pas-
sionate about.
“I think it’s really cool. We get
kids from a bunch of different
schools. They’re all coming here
mainly to do the same thing but in
different ways. So, you get to
meet people who play music, or
people who paint or sing,” Rich
said.
ACOCHA Administrator Kim-
berley Brown oversaw the organ-
ization of the festival, who said
she hopes to broaden the scope of
activities even further going for-
ward by introducing literary
works and film to the list of fea-
tured art forms.
“I think the spoken word is a lot
stronger than what you read on
paper. So, that’s one of the things
I’m looking to do. I’m also trying
to build upon their film discipline
because that isn’t very strong ei-
ther. Only a couple of schools ac-
tually submit for that,” Brown
said.
Abstract artist and face & body
painter Heather Deegan Hires, of
HeatherArtz, has attended the
Teen Arts Festival for each of the
past six years, often hosting a
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body painting station outside of
Kramer Hall. Deegan Hires said
the annual event is a valuable op-
portunity for students seeking to
express themselves because it
often exposes them to new activi-
ties and disciplines of art that they
may become enthusiastic about.
“It gives them a venue and an
experience to kind of dibble-dab-
ble in what they love to do al-
ready—something that they may
already have interest in—or it
may spark a new interest in some-
thing,” Deegan Hires.
Deegan Hires added that Ham-
monton has proven to be the per-
fect place to host an event like the
Teen Arts Festival because of the
town’s strength in and dedication
to the arts.
“Downtown Hammonton is the
perfect place to host an event like
this because they are so involved
in the arts and the community ... I
love having it here. It’s a great
space for everybody to walk
around,” Deegan Hires said.
For some students and aspiring
artists, the festival served as step-
ping stone for qualifying for the
New Jersey State Teen Arts Festi-
val on Wednesday, May 29
through Friday, May 31 at Ocean
County College in Toms River.
For more information, visit
www.njteenarts.com or www.at-
l a n t i c - c o u n t y. o rg / c u l t u r a l -
affairs/teen-arts-festival.asp.
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