Courtesy Community School of the Arts Senior Isaiah Mobley with glass artist Richard Jolley; this is Isaiah’s fourth year working with Jolley.
Jennifer Willard, executive director of the Community School of the Arts, is hoping the fourth time’s a charm.
The school’s apprentice program in the visual arts has been chosen for the fourth year as a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program finalist. It is one of just 50 out of 301 programs nominated across the country to be considered for the award, which comes with a $10,000 grant. It was also a finalist last year, as well as in 2010 and 2013.
“Everybody says this will be our year, so that’s what we’re banking on,” says Willard, adding that no program from Tennessee has ever won.
By the end of June, the 12 winners should be announced by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and its partner agencies: the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Side-By-Side Visual Arts Apprentice Program, now in its 20th year, pairs CSA students between fifth and 12th grades with a professional artist in the studio for four to six months a year. Students get to experience and help with all aspects of the creative process of master professionals like glass artists Richard Jolley and Tommie Rush, print maker Beauvais Lyons, or painter Jean Hess. Often these working partnerships extend over several years until the student graduates, and in some cases the mentor relationship extends well beyond the classroom, Willard says.
Each year’s apprenticeship culminates in an art exhibition in which student and professional works are displayed “side-by-side” at Bennett Galleries and Company before a silent auction and reception. This year, the exhibit runs from May 30 to June 3, with the silent auction June 3 from 5-8 p.m. at Bennett Galleries.
Willard says if the school wins the $10,000 award, it will be able to add five more students to the 15-22 who participate in the apprenticeship program annually; it will probably also create a retrospective catalog featuring all the art from the Side-by-Side shows of the past, with “where are they now” updates on some of the school’s alumni.
The school’s students must meet certain income guidelines and are generally from at-risk or underserved populations in the inner city or rural areas. To participate, they must have two years of visual arts classes at the school under the belt, but they pay no tuition. (The Community School of the Arts offers visual arts classes and music lessons five days a week on State Street.) All the participants have gone on to post-graduate education, many as the first from the families to attend college, Willard says. Some chose their career path based on their Side-by-Side experience, such as filmmaker and video editor Jamison Stalsworth, who worked in claymation with Side-by-Side; Sharlita Green, who apprenticed in drawing and now works for an architecture firm in New York; and Brittany Rogers, who has her own line of pottery, Willard says.
According to a press release from Community School of the Arts, students are chosen for particular apprenticeships based on the degree of difficulty of each medium and the amount of time required in the studio; the age, experience, and interests of the student; and the personality, family situation, and special educational or behavioral needs of the student.
The Community School of the Arts opened its doors in 1992 to provide tuition-free education in fine and applied arts to children from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
S. Heather Duncan has won numerous awards for her feature writing and coverage of the environment, government, education, business and local history during her 15-year reporting career. Originally from Western North Carolina, Heather has worked for Radio Free Europe, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London, and several daily newspapers. Heather spent almost a dozen years at The Telegraph in Macon, Ga., where she spent most of her time covering the environment or writing project-investigations that provoked changes such as new laws related to day care and the protection of environmentally-sensitive lands. You can reach Heather at heather@knoxmercury.com
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