Immersed in Creativity: the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute
What do the television shows Law & Order, Will & Grace, So You Think You Can Dance, and the film Minority Report have in common? Answer: each featured an Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute alumnus.
Each summer, select high school students from throughout the state are given the unique opportunity to hone their artistic skills during the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. The institute is an intensive two-week training academy held at Quartz Mountain State Park in southwest Oklahoma. Programs are led by professional, renowned national or international artists in the fields of acting, creative writing, ballet, modern dance, orchestra, chorus, drawing and painting, photography, and film and video. With matching funds from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, and additional support from the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department and the Oklahoma Arts Council, all students attend tuition-free.
The 2012 summer institute drew students from 57 Oklahoma communities. From Tulsa to Wister, Marlow to Edmond, communities of all sizes were represented at this year's academy.
In their own words:
Abigail West, a junior from Arcadia, attended this year’s program; it was her second year to attend. West said her drawing and painting sessions taught her about conceptual ideas, including composition, the “ideas” behind the work, and “telling the story.”
West commented about the overall experience at Quartz Mountain. “(The institute) expanded my ideas of art as a whole,” West said. “All the performances and everything have expanded my views of art and what it can convey to people.”
West is interested in printmaking but because her school lacks resources she rarely gets the opportunity to practice it. With similar issues in schools statewide, the institute provides a valuable resource for students who excel at the arts and can benefit from an immersion experience where lots of hands-on learning time is available.
Rachel Conn of Del City attended for the first time in 2012.
“Here I love the longer class periods,” Conn said. “All day I’m focused on my discipline.”
Conn’s introduction to the arts came when she was 11 years old and heard about a community theater audition. After earning a part in the production, Conn fell in love with performing. She plans on majoring in theater in college.
Being surrounded by students of all art disciplines in an environment where everyone is accepting, Conn said she benefitted from the opportunity to learn from other students and absorb the training she learned in class.
“You just breath in all that knowledge you learned throughout the day,” Conn said.
Oklahoma educators are encouraged to help their artistically gifted students learn more about the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. Who knows, perhaps the next star from Oklahoma is right there in your classroom!