Mercer County Teen Arts Festival Set For May 18

The 2018 Mercer County Teen Arts Festival will be held Friday, May 18, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the campus of Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, county officials announced.

The Teen Arts Festival is a comprehensive arts education program open to all Mercer County public, private, parochial and home-school students in middle and high school, grades 6 through 12, ages 13 to 19.

“The great thing about this program is that remarkably talented young people have an opportunity to display their work to a wide audience and get positive feedback from professionals in the art world,” Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes said. “Everyone is a winner.”

The festival, under the direction of the Division of Culture & Heritage, spotlights the work of hundreds of Mercer County teen artists and involves scores of volunteers and more than 40 professionals serving as critics. The festival will move to the gymnasium in the event of rain.

Teen Arts is an opportunity for young artists to develop the perceptual, intellectual and technical skills to create works of art, officials said. The focus of the festival is not on competition but participation in performance seminars, classes and workshops in art, dance, drama, vocal and instrumental music, film and creative writing.

Visitors can view visual art pieces that are currently on display outside the gallery on the second floor of the Communications Building.

The attached image was provided by Mercer County officials: Jonathan Conner demonstrates spray-paint stencil techniques at the 2017 Teen Arts Festival at Mercer County Community College.