Boys and Girls Club of Broward debut annual art show

The University Galleries in Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters will host the annual “Art with a Heart” exhibition featuring visual art from the students of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County. This year’s exhibition is part of a national competition and will be presented in FAU’s Ritter Art Gallery on the Boca Raton campus in association FAU’s Museum Education Program. The exhibition will open Friday, January 8 with a reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and will continue on Saturday, January 9 from 1 to 4 p.m. The opening reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County are a part of the more than 4,300 clubs across the country joining in a search to identify talented young artists. The competition is part of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s (BGCA) National Fine Arts Exhibit program, a comprehensive initiative promoting young people’s creativity and encouraging artistic skills and cultural enrichment.

The University Galleries have presented this annual exhibition since 2008. The University Galleries’ Museum Education Program also partner with the Jim and Jane Moran Boys and Girls Club in Deerfield Beach by providing interns to assist the club’s visual arts teachers. FAU students provide interactive exhibition tours and arts education outreach programs in school and in after school settings.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County teach and inspire budding young artists through their acclaimed Art with a Heart fine arts program.  Under the guidance of Senior Art Director Barbara Gore Fedderman, the visual arts program has grown from a traditional arts and crafts program to an inspirational and high-quality fine arts program. “Our art instructors teach club members not only basic visual art skills, but they also teach about the lives, influence and techniques of master artists,” said Fedderman.  “The program provides our youth with a nurturing, non-judgmental and serene atmosphere where they develop self confidence, embrace their inner selves and paint their futures one brushstroke at a time.”  The success of the program is evidenced by the 12 national winners the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County have had in the past nine years.

The Ritter Art Gallery is located immediately west of the S.E. Wimberly Library on the second floor of the breezeway on FAU’s Boca Raton campus. The University Galleries programs are made possible in part by a grant from the Palm Beach County Cultural Council. Museum Education programs are made possible in part by the Julius Kaufman fellowship and Beatrice Cummings Mayer. For further information, call 561-297-2966.

Short URL: http://browardnetonline.com/?p=5654

Posted by Andrea Freygang on Jan 5 2010. Filed under Art, Broward County, Culture, Families, Fort Lauderdale, Local news, Non-profit organizations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.