ARCH Program - Youth Summer Art Intensive Sessions

The Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center is a multi-purpose cultural space in the Southeast community of Newport News, Virginia. Originally built as the Walter Reed School in 1917, our historic building has been restored and open to the public since October 2008.In addition to the 276-seat Ella Fitzgerald Theater, we haverooms for meetings and events, as well as studio space for visual and performing arts. The Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center is a facility of theCity of Newport Newsdepartment of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center

Three-day intensive summer camps in poetry, dance, and storytelling, led by creative professionals. Designed for kids ages 9-15 years old.

<p>In the Summer closing our Bridges season, we are offering a set of three-day summer camp intensive sessions in poetry, dance, and storytelling. In the ARCH (Artistically Raising Children Higher) Program, kids ages 9-15 will learn 24 hours worth of intensive camp instruction by award-winning performers. Whether your child is new to these disciplines or has years of experience, they will gain valuable knowledge from these creative professionals. Each camp will end with a video, showcasing the participants’ achievements. </p><h3>Program Details
</h3><ul><li><strong>Dates</strong>: Three Sessions (Tue, Wed, Thurs) - 
Session 1: Poetry with Nathan Richardson - Tuesday, June 22 - Thursday, June 24; 
Session 2: Storytelling with Stephanie “Steph Love” Lask - Tuesday, June 29 - Thursday, July 1; Session 3: Dance with Joppa Whitehead - Tuesday, July 6 - Thursday, July 8
</li><li><strong>Times</strong>: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
</li><li><strong>Location</strong>:  Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center (In-Person Only)
</li><li><strong>Cost: </strong>$50 per session
 (Register for all three sessions by June 15th for only $140)
</li><li><strong>Ages:</strong> 9-15 years old
</li><li><strong>Registration Deadline(s):</strong> Varies by Session -
 Session 1 (Poetry) and Discounted Registration Deadline: June 15
; Session 2 (Storytelling) Registration Deadline: June 22
; Session 3 (Dance) Registration Deadline: June 29
</li><li><strong>Camp Director: </strong>James Cooper
</li><li><strong>Instructors:</strong> Nathan Richardson, Stephanie Lask, and Joppa Whitehead
</li></ul><p>
</p><h3>Additional Details:
</h3><ul><li>Participants must bring a bagged lunch. </li><li>Morning and mid-day snacks will be provided. </li><li>Registration includes a camp t-shirt. 
</li></ul><p>
</p><p>

</p><h3>About the Instructors:

</h3><p>
</p>

<h2>Nathan Richardson
</h2><p>A native of Suffolk, Virginia, Nathan M. Richardson is an accomplished performance poet and published author. His published collections are "Likeness of Being", "Twenty-one Imaginary T-shirts" and "The 7 Last Poems of an Unarmed Citizen".  His work has been widely re-published in anthologies, magazines, and newspapers such as the Channel Marker, The Cupola, Coastal Virginia Magazine, and the Washington Post.  Nathan has been a featured author at the following writers’ conferences/festivals; The James River Writers Festival, The Christopher Newport University Writers Conference, The PDCCC Literary Festival, the NSU William Carroll Literary Festival &amp; the Hampton Roads Writers Writers Conference.  
</p><p>
</p><p>For the past 15 years, Nathan has been the organizer and host of the Poetry, Prose &amp; Pizza Open Mic Series.  These quarterly open mics are syndicated in the cities of Chesapeake, Suffolk, and Prince George, Virginia. Nathan teaches a variety of workshops for emerging writers.  Three of his most popular workshops are "Paint Me a Poem" "Words Beyond Walls" and "The Business of Becoming a Published Author".  Nathan has more than 20 years of activism mainly  within the youth community as a mentor and  poetry coach for the youth empowerment organization -Teens with a Purpose. 
</p><p>
</p><p>Nationally, Nathan's poetry has been commissioned to accent major art exhibits at the Delaware Museum of Art, the New Mexico Holocaust Museum, and the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA.  Since 2014 he has been the Resident Creative Writing Instructor for the Artistic Verses Creative Writing Program sponsored by Newport News Public High Schools and the Peninsula Fine Arts Center (PFAC).   His past residencies include creative writing instructor for the Camp Rise Summer Arts Program which was awarded the 2012 National Arts &amp; Humanities Youth Program Award from The White House.  
</p><p>
</p>

<h2>
Stephanie Lask
</h2><p>Stephanie Lask aka Steph Love is a spoken word artist and web designer, originally from Virginia Beach, VA. She graduated from Norfolk State University in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design. She fell in love with the art of poetry in elementary school and has been writing ever since.
</p><p>
</p><p>She got her start at an open mic at the now-closed Soulicious Cafe in Norfolk, VA back in October of 2009 and has excelled into a poetry career ever since. She is now the current slammaster of the adult slam poetry team, Verb Benders. They currently hold a 6th place rank, out of 32 teams in the southeast region as of 2019. She hosts these poetry slams at the Venue on 35th St in Norfolk, VA. The team has switched to a virtual platform in the meantime where they host both open mics and slams, every first Wednesday of the month. Lastly, she is a teaching artist with a non-profit organization called Arts For Learning, the Virginia Affiliate of Young Audiences. Through this organization, she teaches different styles of poetry to students, ages ranging from elementary to high school, and also adults. 
</p><p>
</p><p>To stay connected with upcoming events and features, you can find Steph Love on Instagram @SLFive, on Twitter @steph_love500, and on Facebook Stephanie Lask. You can also find Verb Benders on Instagram @verbbendersslam and on Facebook Verb Benders Slam Team.
</p><p>
</p>

<h2>Joppa Whitehead
</h2><p>Joppa Whitehead trained with Andrei Yemelianov at Academie De Ballet, where she performed Variations from Markintanka, Swan Lake, and Giselle. She also competed, receiving High Gold performing a variation from Don Quixote. In 2009 she joined Virginia Ballet Theatre, where she performed in The Nutcracker, Graduation Ball, La Sylphide, and Paquita, as well as two original pieces by Joni Petre Scholtz. Alongside VBT, she was also able to dance with Todd Rosenlieb Dance Company, which is a Hawkins and Graham-based Modern company, where she worked with former Eric Hawkins company member, Todd Rosenlieb and former Alvin Ailey member Ricardo Melendez. Additionally, Miss Whitehead has performed in the International Tattoo, Virginia Musical Theatre in Oklahoma, Lyric Opera Virginia in King and I, and Virginia Symphony Chorus to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Stravinsky in Les Noces. Additional choreographers, she’s worked with Elbert Watson, Ryan Corriston, David Keener, Janelle Spruill, and Angela Brown Myers, and danced alongside company members from Louisville Ballet and Ballet San Juan.</p>

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ARCH Program - Youth Summer Art Intensive Sessions

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