Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA) has been bringing arts education to talented high school students for decades. The Idyllwild Arts Summer Program has been bringing amazing arts courses ranging from young children to adults for even longer.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IDYLLWILD ARTS ACADEMY
With the changing times, IAA had to adapt. Idyllwild Arts Summer Program for 2020 moved some of their classes online due to COVID-19, but now, they have reimagined how to bridge the gap between the academy year and the summer program so everyone can enjoy the arts.
Mark Davis, vice president of the summer and auxiliary programs said, “Since June of 2015, one of the goals we had was to expand classes throughout the year so we could share Idyllwild Arts all year-round. Doing online classes this summer helped us expand that and figure out how to offer courses during the academy year.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF IDYLLWILD ARTS ACADEMY
Starting Oct. 3, many online classes will be available to IAA students and the public. The benefit in this is IAA can reach a broader audience of people from all over the world for all ages.
“Everyone should have access to the arts,” Davis said. “Giving open access to Idyllwild Arts can allow both students and the public to have access. Some students couldn’t make it back to the academy, so this also allows them to stay connected to campus as well.”
The fall auxiliary workshops will be available for different age groups, the youngest starting at three years old in the children’s dance program.
There will be workshops in film & digital media, creative writing, dance, children’s theatre, music, visual arts and Native American arts.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IDYLLWILD ARTS ACADEMY
Some of the classes within the theatre program will be acting and improvisation, acting with Shakespeare and children’s musical theatre.
Some of the music program classes will be Songwriting with a Purpose, Idyllwild Jazz in the Pines workshop, vocal and choral performance, and orchestra.
There will also be workshops on ceramics, painting and poetry.
Some of these classes are designed for children while others are focused on adults. There are a few classes that accept both teenagers and adults. Regardless of your age, there is something for everybody.
As a whole, IAA is trying to not only teach about art but support artists in learning how to use art as a vessel to process their feelings. Whether you’re a high school student, young child or adult, these unprecedented times are changing everyone.
Davis asked, “How do you process your feelings about what we’re going through? We are challenging these students to reflect that through these classes. Idyllwild Arts wants to inspire the global citizen artists, especially during this unique time we’re living through.”
There’s a financial benefit to offering these classes online. They are less expensive. Without the overhead of meals and housing, IAA can offer these classes while saving you money. IAA provides financial aid for some who need it.
“Without food and housing expenses when we offered financial aid, the pricing was different,” Davis said. “We have some financial aid that we can invest that will go further.”
With these workshops and classes, IAA will be able to offer classes year-round without much of a break between the academy year and the summer program, which has never been done before.
Thanks to technology, talented teachers and a passion for the arts, IAA will be year-round for everybody to enjoy.
To learn more about the courses, available workshops and to register, visit https://www.idyllwildarts.org/fall-aux/.
