2008 Heckscher-Usdan Student Art Institue Exhibit Reception

August 6, 2008

(Long Island, N.Y.) A reception for the exhibit of the newest work of the 2008 Heckscher-Usdan Student Art Exhibit students will be Thursday August 7 at 1:30 PM in the on-site Art Gallery of the Art Department at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, 185 Colonial Springs Road, Wheatley Heights, New York. The exhibit runs August 4 to 8, and this year’s work, in painting, drawing and sculpture, will feature many pieces based on found objects.

The unique Heckscher-Usdan Student Art Institute, now in its fourth year, is jointly presented by Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts –called by Time Magazine “One of the most unique in America” – and The Heckscher Museum of Art — named by the New York Times as “One of the country’s small museums with an international reputation.” Taught by Craig Mateyunas, an accomplished artist and photographer, and art teacher at Northport High School, it begins at the Summer 2008 season at Usdan Center, June 30 to August 15, in special Institute studio and seminar classes, and then meets twice each month during the winter at the Heckscher Museum. The program provides studio art instruction, master classes, visits to the studios of celebrated artists, college portfolio preparation, and an introduction to the Museum’s curatorial processes. A goal of the Institute is to create a sense of community to encourage student-to-student artistic inspiration, support and camaraderie.

The work of Heckscher-Usdan students has been exhibited at the Heckscher’s “Long Island’s Best: Young Artists At the Heckscher,” in a dedicated Heckscher-Usdan show called “New Year: New Talents” at the Huntington Public Library, in exhibit at the Usdan Center’s on-campus art gallery, and in other public venues around Long Island. There are a variety of art programs at Usdan Center, including the new, eclectic “Art Adventures.” The Center is located at 185 Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights (Huntington), New York, on a magnificent 200-acre woodland setting. For more information on all programs at the Center, call (212) 772-6060, or (631) 643-7900, visit www.usdan.com, or stop by the Center between 9 AM and 5 PM Monday to Friday.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, which has just celebrated its 40th anniversary, is America’s largest summer arts day camp and was formed to introduce young people, ages 6 to 18, to the arts through performance and study with a professional faculty of artist-teachers. The Center’s mission is to provide children with the arts as a companion for life through great teaching, and the camaraderie of fellow students who share a love the arts. Usdan offers more than 40 programs in music, dance, theatre, visual arts, chess, video art and computer graphics, creative writing, and nature and ecology. No audition is required for most Usdan programs, and one-third of the Center’s 1,600 students attend on scholarship. Children commute to Usdan five days a week on air-conditioned buses that leave from most New York metropolitan area neighborhoods. A special feature of the students’ daily program is the Center’s series of Festival Concerts, daily educational performances by distinguished artists, such as the Tokyo String Quartet, the Limon Dance Company, violinist Rachel Lee, and cast members of current Broadway shows. Although the Center’s goal is to encourage arts participation, Usdan’s unique program has also inspired many former students to go on to professional careers. Alumni include actors Natalie Portman, Lisa Gay Hamilton (featured in Broadway’s Gem of the Ocean) and Jordan Leeds (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change), singers Mariah Carey and Jane Monheit, and members of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and numerous ballet companies including Pacific Northwest, Ballet San Jose, American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet.

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Posted by News LI Editor · Edited by Brianna - Filed Under Society