SCVNews.com | Opinion/Commentary: Ken Striplin | Community Talent on Display at the Youth Arts Showcase

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1892 - Benjamin Harrison establishes 555,520-acre San Gabriel Timberland Reserve (Angeles National Forest). First forest reserve in California, second in U.S. [story]

Ken Striplin | Community Talent on Display at the Youth Arts Showcase

By Ken Striplin | Friday, Feb 24, 2023

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The city of Santa Clarita is widely known for its high-quality of life, including opportunities for fitness and healthy living, a wide range of entertainment options and a diverse restaurant scene.

Santa Clarita is also proud to be home to an award-winning public education system that develops our children into leaders in everything from business and law to the arts and sciences, and everything in-between.

Each year, the city is proud to recognize the blossoming artistic talents of our Santa Clarita Valley youth at the Youth Arts Showcase, which returns for its seventh year on Saturday, March 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Newhall Community Center.

The Youth Arts Showcase is one of the city’s signature events and takes place as part of Youth Art Month, which is celebrated every year during the month of March. The showcase celebrates the importance of the visual and performing arts for children of all ages and is a chance for the public to learn about the arts, view musical, dance and theatre performances and participate with various hands-on craft stations. The Youth Arts Showcase is free to attend and open to all.

This event is also an opportunity for our young aspiring artists, photographers and writers to explore their creativity and have their original works shared with the community through the Painters, Pictures & Prose Contest. The contest is an annual visual and literary arts competition for all Santa Clarita youth in grades K-12. Students are encouraged to submit their work in disciplines that include photography, poetry, personal essays, paintings, drawings and more.

Entries will be reviewed and scored by a panel of city staff and there will be prizes for the top three Visual Arts and Literary Arts entries in each grade division. Up to 20 submissions from each division, in each category, will be on public display at the Youth Arts Showcase and will also be shared on the Community Art Wall at the Westfield Valencia Town Center. In addition, all submissions from those ages 13-18 will automatically qualify for the Santa Clarita Sister Cities Young Artists & Authors Showcase, which in the past has resulted in national recognition for students in Santa Clarita.

The deadline to upload a submission for the Youth Arts Showcase is March 13 at 5 p.m.

I encourage every student in Santa Clarita to submit an entry because it is a wonderful opportunity to see your work on display and share your love of the arts with friends and family. To learn more about all the Youth Arts Showcase has to offer, and to see how to submit an entry for the Painters, Pictures & Prose Contest, please visit SantaClaritaArts.com/Youth-Arts-Showcase.

Ken Striplin is the City Manager for the City of Santa Clarita and can be reached at kstriplin@santa-clarita.com.

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As we wrap up this incredible year with JCI Santa Clarita, my heart is truly overflowing with gratitude. This chapter has shown up in such wonderful ways, and I’m so proud of everything we’ve created together.

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