The entire valley arts community will come together for the Wood River Arts Alliance annual Children's Arts Festival, which will take place at the Community Campus in Hailey on Saturday, March 6, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Co-founder Claudia McCain said children have told her the festival has been the best day of their lives.
"In this age of technology, this is a day children work with their hands, eyes and ears," McCain said. "It is a very visceral experience."
The festival is a free event for elementary school children, grades kindergarten through fifth. The festival will offer interactive classes in clay making, drama, dance, music and visual and literary arts. Registration begins at 9 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis.
Classes are 50 minutes in length and take place at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Each registered student receives a gift and a raffle ticket for a Flip camera to be given away at the end of the day. Lunch is available for purchase or children may bring their own. Interpreters will be available for the Spanish-speaking community.
New this year for students in grades third through fifth is a full-day workshop called "The WRAA Players." Thirty students will spend the day learning and rehearsing a one-act musical, "Zero to Hero," and will perform it in the theater at the end of the day. In addition, an optional class, Tech Track, will be offered for students interested in learning lights, sound and stage management. This is the only class for which students can pre-register on line at the WRAA Web site, wrartsalliance.org.
"The St. Thomas Playhouse doesn't offer classes during the school year, so this is our way of giving back," said St. Thomas Episcopal Church Education and Production Director Sara Gorby.
Three performances will take place in the theater, starting at 9:30 a.m. with a performance by the Sun Valley Summer School of Music faculty and guests. At 12:15 p.m., St. Thomas Playhouse will present "Rumpelstilskin," and the day will conclude at 3:10 p.m. with the WRAA Players' performance of "Zero to Hero" and a final group dance led by Britta Von Tagen.
For kids who may not make it into a class, there are plenty of activities, including walk-up craft tables, a bouncy house, painting a pirate ship and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony School of Music's instrument petting zoo. Art work created by students from all area schools will adorn the halls of the Community Campus.
Wood River Arts Alliance members offering classes include Boulder Mountain Clayworks, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Company of Fools, Footlight Dance, The Mountain School, Nia of Sun Valley, Petite Picasso, Sun Valley Summer Symphony School of Music, Notes Music, Music N' Me, nexStage Theatre, Iconoclast, St. Thomas Playhouse, Nancy Liston and Pat Robinson.
Volunteers are needed for the event. For details, call 578-7720 or e-mail wrartsalliance@mac.com.
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
Courtesy photo by Kirsten Shultz
The third annual Children’s Arts Festival will take place Saturday, March 6, at the Community Campus in Hailey.
