Around Amherst: Councilors may be on board for weekend anti-racism workshop
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST A weekend-long anti-racism training initiative for the Town Council, aimed at helping to build trust between councilors and the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities, is being proposed by two of its members.
District 2 Councilor Pat DeAngelis and District 5 Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne are suggesting the 13 members participate in the 2½-day workshop Undoing Racism, led by the Peoples Institute for Survival and Beyond.
Bahl-Milne said at the council meeting this week that the training would be an opportunity to develop common language, understand racism and work with constituents with more sensitivity.
Foundation names 2021 Young Arts winners
Updated 2/1/2021 11:35 AM
The National YoungArts Foundation recently announced its 2021 YoungArts Winners.
YoungArts winners are the nation s most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts.
Selected from a competitive pool of applications and representing artists from across the country, YoungArts winners gain access to one of the most comprehensive programs for emerging artists in the United States, offering financial, professional and artistic development opportunities over the course of their careers.
Winners are chosen for their caliber of artistic achievement by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process and are awarded in three categories: Finalist, Honorable Mention and Merit.
Updated on January 25, 2021 at 9:59 am
Andrew Harris/National YoungArts Foundation
What to Know
142 artists will be in the spotlight, including at least three dozen Californians
Jazz, dance, singing, film, visual arts, more
Discovering your creative fire early on in life can be a true gift.
For finding that you possess the bright sun of pure inspiration inside, and you can access its power to create a thousand different wonderful things, from thrilling dance performances to memorable music pieces, is a life-changing moment.
Artists who ve discovered their inner light, and ability to create, are regularly spotlighted in many wonderful ways on our stages, in our galleries, and via our screens.
The butterfly is the inspiration for artist Jessica Jing McCann. McCann sees the creature as both fragile and strong.
“The butterfly has always been my favorite insect,” said McCann, of O’Hara. She recalled a trip to a butterfly garden at Niagara Falls when she was 14. “I love the elegance and grace of a butterfly. I also love its strength and its fragility.”
The essence of the insect comes through in the art McCann fashions out of nickel.
She said making jewelry is a process. It begins with a design she creates through a sketch, which she builds into a paper model. She takes those pieces of paper and places them on the nickel. McCann cuts the material with a coping saw into the desired shapes. She files the edges and sands the metal before polishing the jewelry.
Staten Island student named finalist in young artists competition
Updated Dec 20, 2020;
Posted Dec 20, 2020
- Elizabeth Shvarts, a student at Staten Island Technical High School, was named a 2021 National YoungArts Foundation Finalist in the Play or Script category the organization’s highest honor. (Courtesy/Elizabeth Shvarts)
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A Staten Island high school student has been named a 2021 finalist in a prestigious young artists competition.
Elizabeth Shvarts, a student at Staten Island Technical High School, was named a 2021 National YoungArts Foundation Finalist in the Play or Script category the organization’s highest honor. Shvarts has been recognized for her caliber of artistic achievement and joins 659 of the nation’s most accomplished artists in the visual, literacy, and performing arts.