LOOKING A LITTLE PALE
Grade 11 students Rebekkah Wall, centre, and Laneah Brice from Holy Trinity Academy in Okotoks participate in the Stage Makeup for Live Theatre workshop during the University of Lethbridge's Fine Arts Day.
Hundreds of southern Alberta high school students got a taste of what the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Lethbridge has to offer.
The sixth annual Experience Fine Arts Day on Wednesday brought 550 students from about 28 high schools to the university to participate in hands-on workshops in art, drama, music and new media.
Students could choose from more than 100 different workshops, hosted by faculty members and graduate students.
“It’s a cool opportunity because it’s community development as well as letting them know what options are available to them,” said Erin Kennett, Faculty of Fine Arts Admissions & Portfolio Adviser.
Kennett said she hears excellent feedback from the students who participate. It’s similar to the U of L’s Student for a Day, but it’s a “much more diverse experience.”
“You can choose to do something in new media, then do something in digital audio arts, then you can finish your day watching a drama performance,” she said. “There’s this opportunity to experience the whole breadth and depth of what the Fine Arts can really offer.”
For many, it’s their introduction into the post-secondary world and students can get a glimpse of what university life is all about. Giving students a chance to try out their desired career path is essential to future enrolment decisions, she said.
“Seeing that there’s alumni that have graduated from Fine Arts and have been successful postgraduation, that there are internship opportunities, international exchanges, scholarships and everything else, it’s just so important to open their eyes so they can make informed decisions about the next step in their education path.”
Holding the event correlates to higher registration in Faculty of Fine Arts programs, she confirmed. Having the opportunity to meet the faculty and see what’s inside the outer brick walls — including a milliondollar recording studio, a 450-seat proscenium arch theatre, a recital hall and the latest computer and technology equipment — has been priceless.
“We’ve found over the years that students who could see the facilities, see the space, recognize what is here, all of a sudden they feel more confident in attending university,” she said.
Some have travelled many miles to take part in Experience Fine Arts Day, including a student who is emigrating from Scotland, one from the Yukon and another from Calgary.
“It’s starting to get a much wider reach,” said Kennett. “Every year it gets better and better.”
Throughout the day, Dramatic Arts students showcased their fall semester final project — a steam punk display — and art student Deidre Braun invited guests to help with the creation of her clay project by hand-building a multitude of small heads.
Students also had the opportunity to create artist trading cards to swap and collect.