Fig-zine

Fig Media sponsors and teaches classes with the Edgewater Community Council's Youth Arts Program. We recently had our second large art show of the school year on Friday, February 3 at the North Lakeside Cultural Center, 6219 N. Sheridan. At our "Save the Arts!" Fundraiser and Youth Art Show, we exhibited and celebrated the work our students have created over the past ten weeks in twelve different art classes. In the downstairs children's art gallery, our students' paintings, drawings, and photographs were up for silent auction. Our student-made music video, "We Like to Party," was also showing throughout the night. The work these kids have created is truly mind-blowing; you'd never guess that some of these pieces were created by children as young as seven years old. Significant progress has been made these past few months and the children are becoming accomplished artists.

Upstairs, our DJ class emceed the event and spun some great music. We had nearly two hours worth of performances in Japanese dance (including one with fun audience participation), theatre, readings from our creative writing class, Taiko (Japanese drumming), guitar/singing, movement & storytelling, and a Tae Kwon Do board-breaking demonstration (wow!).

Launched in the late summer of 2005, ECC's Youth Arts Program is a new direction for the after-school and summer youth program ECC has been running for nearly five years. With the help of the Chicago Department of Children & Youth Services and Fig Media, our biggest contributors, we are taking a bold step toward making the arts available to youth from all backgrounds and income levels. Arts funding has been drastically cut in our public schools. We are the only arts-based program within the Edgewater community to exclusively provide free and low-cost, quality after-school arts programming to students for whom it may otherwise be unavailable. Our mission is to challenge our youth intellectually, develop their leadership skills, and encourage a sense of community and personal reflection.

Over 100 guests attended our recent art show, making it a true community event. Thanks to everyone who came out Friday night for saying loud and clear that having arts programming available to every child in Edgewater is something that really matters to you.

For more information on how you can get involved or to register a new student, please contact Kristin Miller-Sholl, Program Director at 773-381-1364 or kristin_sholl@yahoo.com