Thank You for Another Incredible Summer! 
Wrapping Up Summer 2013:
Art, Matching Campaigns & Wonderful Volunteers

We would like to start off this newsletter by thanking everyone for an incredible summer. Not only did we have seven wonderful camps, two fantastic workshops, and a successful second year of Sitka Fest, we also saw an outpouring of support from the Sitka Fine Arts Camp community as we launched our Summer 2013 Matching Campaign.

 

There are many ways to help out at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and we appreciate every bit of your support, whether it be a donation of your time or your money. We would like to extend a special thank you to the Campbell family, who spent a week of their summer volunteering on our campus and working on a variety of projects, from hemming chair covers to painting fire escapes. Thank you also to our Historic Restoration interns, who donated their time helping out on projects at the Hames Center and Allen Hall.

 

We are in the final push of our Matching Campaign, which ends October 1st. Until then, every dollar that you donate will be doubled by an anonymous donor. The money that is raised from the Matching Campaign will be used for finishing Allen Hall and beginning the renovation of the historic Power Plant.

 

Thank you again for your continued support. We are looking forward to a busy and art-filled year!
Introducing Our Newest Program: 
Young Performer's Theater

We are excited to announce auditions for the first show of our new Young Performer's Theater Program! The Adventures of Beatrix Potter and her Friends is a lively and entertaining musical that tells the story of one of the world's most beloved children's authors. Interspersed with vignettes of Ms. Potter's stories, the show is jam-packed with fantastic roles for all ages.

 

Auditions will be Saturday September 21 in Yaw Chapel. Ages 7-18 are welcome to audition. For more information or to sign up for an audition slot please visit the Youth Theater page on our website. 
After School Art Sign-Ups

Don't forget to sign up for After School Art classes! We have tons of great offerings for our Fall Session, ranging from Mixed Media Watercolors to Potter's Wheel and Creating Music through Guitar. For more detailed information visit the After School Art page on our website or register by calling the Main Office at 907-747-3085.
Sitka Fest Wrap-Up
Written by Paul Cox, Director of Sitka Fest

Sitka Fest has been in full swing all summer and is now winding down. Over forty public events have passed in a blur of activity. Last week, when Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori toured campus, I described Sitka Fest as a remarkable collection of events created by a diverse range of campus partners. I pointed to various buildings to make my point. "The Sitka Summer Music Festival is there in Stevenson, Island Institute over by Yaw Chapel, Sitka Sound Science Center down in the Deco building, the octagon building there is the SJ museum, oldest building here, fine arts camp takes place all over..."  "It's a Chautauqua," she said. "Remember the 19th century tradition of folks getting together to make shift tent revival meetings to hear concerts, study literature and sing together?" Exactly right. She got the spirit of our collective endeavor exactly right.

 

It is always a bittersweet to finish up a festival, like the end of a ten-week party! So let's look at the humorous side of things. Below is a shorthand guide to Sitka Fest lingo, so when you come to campus, you'll what everyone's talking about:

 

Bach's Lunch - a free Sitka Summer Music Festival lunchtime concert.

Art Shares - Free, nightly performances by faculty and students held during Sitka Fine Arts Camp.

JOWF (jou-f) - Jazz on the Waterfront, a benefit dinner and concert featuring a 20-piece big band.

SFAC (ess-FAK) - Sitka Fine Arts Camp.

ZB Bach - Code for "Zuill Bailey is giving an impromptu recital of Bach cello suites, get seats quick."

Island Resiliency - The Island Institute's annual gathering of writers.

Native Jazz - Concerts and worships celebrating the "native" in all of us.

Dee Daniels - the greatest jazz singer of her generation is HERE.

TEDx - Brief talks on "ideas worth spreading." Google TEDxSitka.

The Fellows - An immensely talented group of Sitka Fellows, all under-30, in residence on campus for two months.

Work Crew - Interns that arrive in July to work on restoring the campus.

Seafood Fest - The biggest party of the summer, fish head toss anyone?

Paths - Paths Across the Pacific, scientists and scholars coming together to debate if and how humans migrated across the world's oceans

Seussical - The musical performed by the Musical Theater Camp. Last year it was "Birdie."

 

See you next year.

 
We're almost there-
help us reach our goal!
New Staff Members!
We are excited to announce the addition of two new staff members to the Sitka Fine Arts Camp team! 
 
Elsbeth Poe joins us from Ashland, OR where she received her BFA in Theater Performance with a minor in Shakespeare Studies. Elsbeth has been an acting company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. After a fun-filled summer working as the theater teacher for our elementary camp and a counselor for our middle, high school, and musical theater camps, Elsbeth has joined the Fine Arts Camp team full-time as our Events Manager and Young Performer's Theater Director. 

Bayla Laks joins us as our VISTA After School Coordinator. Bayla received her BFA in Illustration with a minor in Art History from the Hartford Art School in Connecticut. She has studied all over the world including Italy, Mexico, The Camberwell College of Arts,  and University of Arts London. She has extensive experience teaching painting, drawing, printmaking, and 
bookbinding to students of all ages. Bayla will be working to expand our After School Arts program. For more information on Bayla or to see her work you can visit her website here.