youth
Through ArtWorks Cincinnati Summer Project, Talents Bloom
If you’ve driven around Greater Cincinnati this summer, you may be seeing new color in unexpected places. Teenage apprentice artists have been working side-by-side professional artists as part of ArtWorks Cincinnati summer program. Actually 
there are 115 teens who have created 15 beautiful, eye-catching murals to be exact.
Yes, these paintings are great masterpieces with vivid imagery that will enrich communities for years to come. But what is really special to me about this program is the opportunity it provides young, aspiring minds to blossom. It is so much more than just getting together to create art. Apprentices strengthen their communication skills and their confidence. They learn about teamwork and responsibility.
“A lot of them gain skills they never knew they had,” ArtWorks Communication Specialist Marian Kelly told me.
The goal, Marian said, is to ultimately have an ArtWorks mural in every Cincinnati neighborhood…and they are up to 32. 
There is a lot of competition for becoming an ArtWorks apprentice. Each year the organization interviews more than 300 diverse youth between the ages of 14 and 21. Key criteria are a positive attitude, ability to work as part of a group, talent and time availability.
YMCA Seeking Nominations Of Professionals Who Give Back
The YMCA of Greater Cincinnati is looking for professionals who share its vision of nurturing the potential of young people, and promoting healthy living and social responsibility. Selected and sponsored by their companies to represent them, YMCA Achievers who will be honored at the 2012 Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala will also commit to volunteering a year to inspire students toward paths of success. Nomination sponsorships are being accepted through June 1, 2012.
The 2012 Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala will be held November 16, 2011 beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Sharonville Convention Center. For nomination, sponsorship or gala information, the public should call Toni Miles, YMCA Black & Latino Achievers executive director, at 513-362-YMCA (9622) or email her at tmiles@cincinnatiymca.org; or visit the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati website.
One of the largest regional programs of its kind, the YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program motivates students of color to further their education and goals with help from successful, professional role models. Since its beginning, the Program has served over 6,000 teens, awarded over $250,000 in scholarships, assisted youth with over $4 million dollars in awarded scholarships and engaged more than 4,500 adult volunteers through a network of corporate and community partners.
YMCA Character Awards Celebrated Future Leaders
If you want to truly be inspired…spend an evening surrounded by young people who are making a difference in this 
world in their own very personal way. This was the 15th year that the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati celebrated teen role models for caring, respect, honesty and responsibility. It was such an honor for me to work with them and g
et to know them in writing their bios and working on the publicity. A special thank you to FOX19, who I got to partner with us in promoting it. Each day the week leading up to the event Tracey Johnson (who emceed the event) interviewed honorees on her Morning Xtra show.
Cincinnati Enquirer story on YMCA Character Awards
One of Tracey Johnson’s interview with YMCA Character Award honorees
A Teen’s Perspective On ‘Caring’
On April 17, 2012 Erin Daniels, a junior at North College Hill High School in Cincinnati, will be among 40 local students who will be honored by the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati as a YMCA Character Award recipient. Each of the honorees has her/her own very unique story of making a difference but what they all share is how they are role models for the character values of caring, respect, honesty and responsibility.
I was with Erin recently for a television interview and afterward asked her what it means to be ‘caring’. This is what she said.
YMCA Character Awards 2012 news release
2012 YMCA Character Award recipients 2012
The YMCA Character Awards Event will be April 17, 2012 at the School for Creative & Performing Arts. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets for the event are $25 for an adult or $10 for a youth. To purchase a ticket, please call 513-246-3205.
I have a few tickets to give-a-way. I will be drawing on this coming Wednesday from among my Good Things Pledge champions. Not a champion yet? It’s simple. Just visit the page and add your contact information.
Calling Greater Cincinnati Student Performers!
Empowering young people to pursue their passions, to use their creative skills and to bring out their strengths is one of the greatest gifts we can pass along.
The Cincinnati Arts Association is doing just that with the region’s largest solo arts competition for students – the 
Overture Awards Program. This year it is initiating a new opportunity for Tri-State teens in grades 9 to 12.
The Next Pop Star Competition is designed for singers and dancers who perform popular music and dance. Most of them will not have studied privately. It will offer a chance for them to compete with others who share their enjoyment of these art forms. Applications from students who have competed in the Overture Award Program in the past will not be accepted.
25 dancers and 25 vocal music students will be allowed to compete on a first-come first-served basis for no longer than five minutes. There is an application that must be filled out but no application fee. The application can be found at http://www.cincinnatiarts.org/Overture_Awards
Two winners, one from each discipline, will receive a $300 prize. The event will be Saturday, June 2, 2012 at The Aronoff Center from 9:00 a.m.to 1:00 p.m. Students will receive a letter with a specific time at which they should report.
The Arts Association will provide a keyboard and a CD player for students’ use and they can bring an accompanist.
Guidelines for both disciplines can be found on our website, cincinnatiarts.org/overture_awards. Click on the Next Pop Star link.
Please call Carolyn Phillips with any questions at 513-977-4168 or send an e-mail to cphillips@cincinnatiarts.org.
A word about competition from the Cincinnati Arts’ Association:
Successful working artists agree that self-discipline, hard work, determination, and one’s ability to deal positively with criticism are the best indicators for success in the arts. Many brilliant high school performers have gone on to lead very traditional lives. Many people whose talents went completely unrecognized in high school have gone on to have brilliant careers in the arts.
This year’s Overture Awards will provide just one of many occasions in which a young artist’s creative efforts will be judged. A realistic picture of how a competition works and a healthy attitude about winning and losing will help keep stress to a minimum and allow contestants to keep the competition in good perspective so that it can be a useful learning experience.
