YOUTH PROGRAMMING
YOUTH PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL
The Youth Performance Festival is a collaborative program of Play Incubation Collective and the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley, in partnership with Make-It Springfield. YPF is a FREE opportunity for youth artists ages 8-18 to create original performance pieces with the guidance of mentor artists in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry/spoken word, video/animation, and more. YPF centers the creative agency of young artists, and is committed to supporting them as they discover their own creative processes. YPF is an outstanding festival experience that warms hearts and inspires creativity in audience members of all ages!
ArtPlay encourages kids ages 6-12 to think of themselves as fundamentally creative beings with a fun, interactive, interdisciplinary approach. The program connects youth to local teaching artists and provides space and structure for youth-initiated performances and exhibitions. Kids will have the chance to experiment with dance, music, drama, visual arts, collaborative play, and more!
ARTPLAY VACATION ARTS PROGRAM
YOUNG ARTISTS STUDIO
Young Artists Studio is a series of events at the Northampton Center for the Arts being offered in collaboration with the Teaching Artists Program (TAP) at Smith College through the Jandon Center Education Initiative. TAP is a new initiative where Smith College students teach visual arts in community based and school contexts with mentorship and guidance from dedicated art educators.
Please visit our main Young Artists Studio page for more information!
QUEER KIDS FEST
Queer Kids Fest is an annual free, all-ages celebration of music, art, books, and joyful self-expression for 2SLGBTQIA+ kids, families, and allies. Held annually each October at the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley, this festive day brings together local artists, authors, performers, and community partners to uplift queer youth and their creativity.
Please visit our main Queer Kids Fest page for more information!
This workshop will invite young writers to have encounters with their own experiences, visions, and beliefs. Over the course of 11 weeks, participants will explore poetry through writing and reading, in peer led writers’ workshops and with experimentation between forms (sound/music, visual art, movement). Writing will be focused on both generation and revision. A few of the poets we will be reading are Dickinson, Joy Harjo, Molly Peacock, AE Stallings, and Jean Valentine. On the last day of the session, the group will host a Poet's Open Mic Café, where family members and loved ones will be invited to listen to the poets read their work.
Please visit our main Dwell in Possibility page for more information!
DWELL IN POSSIBILITY
POETRY FOR TEENS & TWEENS