Arts-X-press is a summer arts immersion program for 7th and 8th grade students created by the Pacific Symphony in celebration of Cole Carsan St.Clair. 150 students are nominated by teachers throughout Orange County to come together for 5 days of creative exploration each summer. The program has two goals: 1) To expose students to all 5 performing and visual arts; and 2) To foster respect for and interest in each student’s individuality, talents, interests, and background.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Farewell Week 3

Don't forget to be on time to pick up your camper! They have LOTS to tell you about. Here's the bus schedule for Wednesday, August 1. Please be on time so we don't have any sad campers (and even sadder staff members!)

Bus A
Santa Ana
Santa Ana Unified District Office
1601 E Chestnut Ave.           
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Parent arrival: 10:05 am
Expected Bus Arrival: 10:20 am

Garden Grove
Garden Grove Unified District Office
10331 Stanford Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92840
Parent arrival: 10:35 am
Expected Bus Arrival: 10:50 am

Placentia-Yorba Linda
Education Services Center
4999 Casa Loma Avenue
Yorba Linda, CA 92886 
Parent arrival: 11:05 am
Expected Bus Arrival: 11:20 am

Bus B
Newport-Mesa
California Elementary
3232 California Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92626-2298                                      
Parent arrival: 10:00 am
Expected Bus Arrival: 10:15 am

Irvine
Irvine Unified District Office
5050 Barranca Parkway
Irvine, CA 92604
Parent arrival: 10:25 am
Expected Bus Arrival: 10:40 am

Saddleback Valley
Saddleback Valley Unified District Office
25631 Peter A Hartman Way
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Parent arrival: 10:55 am
Expected Bus Arrival: 11:10 am

Abbe's Creative Expression Class!

The theme for our class has been "Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve" and the students have taken to this motto with flying colors.  Whether or not through connecting with each other through games, writing, discussion, or art, the students have made it their mission to be themselves at all time, to not fear honesty in their expression, and I'm so proud of them!
On Day One we started working on literally hearts, where the students expressed the truth inside them through images and writing.  On Day Two we worked on a collaborative poem that we are excited to share tonight at the parent presentation.  On Day Four we used some of the music we heard at the Symphony as inspiration to write concrete detail that we imagined.  And today we used images of paintings from last night's Pageant of the Masters to invent original stories.  The students have really stretched themselves creatively in this class.
I will leave you with some quotes from the students' own journals:

"The told us to take creative risks and I really liked that and it made me feel more confident about myself and doing things I'm not that comfortable with." -Gianni

"Over all, the theme of camp is Creativity, but in my Writing Expression class it's "Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve" which I totally believe in!  I'm all about self-empowerment!  I love it here!" - Drea

"They make you step out of your comfort zone and make you become yourself.  They make you meet new people and experience new ideas.  They don't want you to compete with yourself but to become yourself." - Sydney

"'Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve' means keeping your heart open, but not letting anybody step on it or hurt your feelings." - Sarah

"I learned it's okay to make mistakes because sometimes it's fun." - Evan

"I can express myself and be myself without worrying what others will think or say." - Brooke

"It feels exactly like a family." - Oasis

Day 3, Festival of the Arts/Pageant of the Masters

This is Mo, once again with the latest and greatest.
I have been a part of for Arts X Press for a very long time and Day 3 is ALWAYS my favorite day. Today was no exception. It was a long yet jam-packed day of fun, excitement and CREATIVITY.

We started off our day with Arts Workshops and Creative Expression Classes. Later during lunch, we had Pacific Symphony Musicians join us for lunch where the campers gained some insight on what its like to be a Pacific Symphony musician. It was great getting to know them!

After that, we headed to Laguna Beach. We took a private backstage tour of Pageant of the Masters. It was AWESOME. Always so fascinating to learn the behind-the-scenes tricks of the trade and all the work that goes into making a show of this magnitude come to life.

After the educational tour, we got our creative juices flowing with some visual arts activities. We made raku pots (that you will see and smell later. You'll know what I mean), scratch art, and print making. It was a great chance to do some bonding but also experience other mediums of art.

 Print Making
 Raku Pots!
Scratch Art!
 You're Welcome, Leslie :)



The Pageant show was one of the best I have seen. Great paintings art and artists were featured. Many campers had their MAGIC MOMENT last night after seeing the show. They were so awestruck by the whole thing. Its always great to see their reactions.

After the show, we were all exhausted! Headed home and called it a night! Such a great day. 

Cannot wait to to meet you all at the Parent Presentation tonight!!!



Monday, July 30, 2012

Parent Presentation Week 3

We can't wait to see everyone at the Parent Presentation on Tuesday! It begins at 6:45 pm in the big white events tent in the northwest corner of Vanguard's campus. Parking is free, the whole family is welcome, and your young artists can't wait to show you what they've accomplished this week.

A professional videographer will record the presentation. You can pre-order a DVD for $15 and professional group photos for $10 on Tuesday night. ArtsMart merchandise will also be on sale.

Creative Expression with Gemma :)

The amazing group:
Amy, Becca, Rachel, Cristian, Jessie, Peter, Bailey, Amethyst, Ashley, Grace, Jenn, Liam, Esther, Cari, Gustavo, Peyton!

Each day we journal a discovery and goal.
Discoveries: I can take a two minute shower, bonding makes people open up and feel like a family.
Goals: Learn everyone's name, be open to new things.

Our theme, CREATIVITY..."oooh", inspires us in many ways. 

Day one we created a word wall: out-of-the-box, inspiration, different, unique, imagination...were some ideas :)

Day two we each created our own acrostic poem.  Then we all collaborated to come up with this:

Colors
Rediscover reality
Explore extraordinary expression
Amazing, awesome Arts-x-press
Think outside the box
Intriguing, infinate imagination
Very visually vivid
Inspired innovation
Talent
You can be unique.

Today the group initiated an art project!  They wanted to make and decorate the letters in the word 'creativity' to share our poem at the parent presentation.  How creative!  We also wrote "I am" poems and continued to decorate our Creative Expression folders.

Looking forward to sharing more tomorrow at the parent presentation!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Day 2 Excursion!!

 After our regularly scheduled on campus activities our young artists departed to the Great Park in Irvine to go see the Pacific Symphony's "Symphony in the Cities" concert. When we arrived we kicked off the event with circle painting in our arts workshops groups and collectively created a work of art that bonded our group closer together. Afterwards, the kiddies went on a backstage tour and got to see the inner workings of a Symphony concert. With our delicious picnic dinner of sandwiches and fruit the campers were graced with the presence of the Pacific Symphony's conductor Carl St. Clair. With his words of wisdom in mind we started the spectacular concert! The concert featured works by Bizet, John Phillip Souza, and many other great composers, and was performed with a classical guitar quartet as well as a wonderfully talented vocalist in certain pieces. So after a long and fulfilling day the campers readied themselves for bed and the mysteries of tomorrow!!!!







Special Guest at Great Park

Hello!

This is Mo, Coordinator for Week 3! We just got back a little bit ago from the Symphony in the Cities concert in Great Park, Irvine. Before the great concert, we had a VERY special visitor. Carl St. Clair the Conductor and Music Director for the Pacific Symphony. He had great insight on the life of a musician, how to get the most out of Arts X Press, and of course just great life advice (he always is very uplifting). It was a great precursor to the main event.
 Great Park, Orange County

    Claudia and Lily, Counselors

Michal's CE class post

So far in CE, we have written in our journals, making sure we talk about a goal and a discovery we have for the day. We also created acrostic poems with the work CREATIVITY (our theme for the week). Today we talked about the elements of story and created our own using the Titanic, the phrase "We're all gonna die!" and the adjective "ugly." Enjoy the CREATIVITY of Michal's CE class!

Meghan S.: Some goals that I have for myself include being able to draw better, make new friends, try new foods, learn new things.

Create Whatever!
Recreate images in your own way!
Express the REAL you!
Always think outside the box!
Truthful to yourself
Individuality is OK!
Versatile attitude
I will be MYSELF!
Tell your story
Your choice
by Chloe and Dolce

On a dark windy night the Titanic was priceless. Nobody could ever call this glorious view ugly, but that didn't last long for the indestructible Titanic sank into nothing. It if wasn't for the glacier, the Titanic would e still in the seas with its beautiful and priceless view. Now I'm just looking to the seas writing this story and I hope somebody reads this. I can still hear the voices in my head over and over again "We are all gonna die!" was what the people were saying. So now I"m going find land and inform people about what happened and I can rest for some time to forget all these horrific memories.
by Teresa

Can be expressed any way
Rainbow of personality
Everyone has a creative side
A way to find out who you are
True to yourself
Incredible!
Very easy to experience
It can be anything that you imagine
Terrifically in style
You can't be without it.
by Sarah and Meghan

Once upon a time at Vanguard University, there was a whole bunch of cheerleaders that came to cheer. There were all very competitive with each other. Everyone of them wanted to be the best at everything... who had the best splits, who had the longest hair, and who could do the best cartwheel. Then one day, a boy cheerleader came along. He was better at everything. He had the longest hair, the best splits, and a very pretty cartwheel. All the girls were mad, so they all got hammers and broke the boy cheerleader's bones. Now, he is not a good cheerleader anymore. He was really upset, so he posted terrible pictures of all the girl cheerleaders on facebook. He wasn't finished with his revenge though so he cut all the girls' hair off and with all the hair, he made the longest wig ever, so he had the longest and prettiest hair every, making him the best cheerleader ever!
by Abby (inspired by the cheerleaders outside our CE classroom)

Choosing the unexpected
Risk taking is key
Exclude nothing
Always reach deeper
Think outside of the box
Imagination is the foundation
Various ways to express it
Improvise with WHAT YOU HAVE
Try your best
You are creative.
by Camryn, Ha and Caitlyn

Day 2: Ok so yesterday night we was the NCI... the show was based on 4 different choreographers and their ballet dances. My absolute favorite was Wendy's dance, "Something about Sundays." I observed that there were five couples and 1 single guy. I believe he felt lonely until he met somebody. The setting was a cafe on Sunday. My second favorite was about dancers, oops, I mean writers imprisoned in Korea. So anything, that night I took my three minute shower. Skillednessessess  OK the bed are so uncomfortable! My back hurts like crazy. But that's OK. My goal for today is to meet at least 3 new people and my discovery is that I should've brought an blanket, pillow, sweats another jacket and another pair of jeans. Ah, who cares. I'll be fine. My discover, I can take a 3 min shower.
-Caitlyn

"We're all gonna die!" yelled Ryan. "I've starving and we're gonna die of hunger!" "No we're not, we're almost home!" said Jewel. They were on their way back from the beach on a sunny afternoon. Ryan, Jewel, Jacob and Sonia had all gone to the beach that day and were planning on going back the next day. They were all going to go on a boat to a little island in the Atlantic Ocean. "Let's go!" screamed Sonia. "We're going to miss the boat if you don't hurry!" Everybody rushed out the car and drove off to the dock. By this time it was already noon. Ryan, Jewel, Jacob and Sonia were all good friends. Ryan and Jacob were tall, while Sonia and Jewel were still five feet tall. "This is an ugly boat, Sonia." said Jacob. About half way through their ride, there was a huge thud under the boat and the engine stopped. Everyone stopped talking and looked at each other. When all of a sudden a a shark breaks though the bottom of the oat, making a gigantic hole in the bottom. The boat starts sinking like the Titanic. Luckily , the little island was visible from where the boat sank. Jacob, Jewel, Sonia and Ryan swam up and started for the island. But on the way there was just a pool of sharks. Everyone just floated there... To be continued!!!!
 -Josie

Create a new way of life
Really interesting to know
Exciting
Awesome
Teriffic
Interesting
Victory starts with creativity
Ideas are from being active
The arts define creativity
You only live once.
- Adrian, Thomas and Sam

They saw that the indestructible ship did snink and to some extent, this is true. But you know the old saying "don't judge a book by it's cover." So I'll tell you the real story, to start off it was a warm summer morning of which my great grandfather had the pleasure of boarding the ship "Titantic". He had presented the officials with his ticket and walked onto the ship's beautiful  interior, inhaling all of its features. He, however, quickly noticed what he thought to be a small experimental bomb strapped to the mantle of the grand fireplace. He was right, but after another glance he siply decided it was a weird clock. It would bleep and coitnue to count down isntead of up..... to be continued!
-by Jacob.

"We're all gonna die!" Harry Potter screamed after Voldermot put his curse on the Titanic and now the mighty ship was plunging straight into the ocean. Harry Potter started running all around. Panicking and rubbing hsi scar as the pair it caused him started increasing every minute. His messy hair was flying and blocking his sight as he continuously tried to flip it out of his eyes. He was amazed at how foolish he was in dropping his wand into the water. This was a life or death situation for Harry, since the Gamemakers in his seventy-fourth annual hunger games' was to kill him with a traffic death to entertain the Capitol people. At the moment, Harry was extremely jealous as he saw Edward Cullen walked by him at perfect peace. OK, he was wrong. They were all gonna die, except Edward, he was a vampire. He couldn't die again. The ship suddenly tilted even more. It was impossible to think of a way to survive now. Just as sudden as the ship had nearly flipped, it went back to its original position, flat on the ocean, floating at peace at though it hasn't hit an iceberg at all. He knew that the game was gonna get as ugly as possible after this calmness.
-Ha

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Day 1, National Choreographers Initiative

Hello Parents and Friends of Arts X Press!

My name is Mo, I am the Coordinator for Week 3! So excited to get 5 amazing days of Arts X Press underway! We have already had a busy day. Currently, the artists are in their Arts Workshops. Tonight we will be attending the National Choreographers Initiative at UC Irvine!
Everyone is settled in and getting well acquainted with one another! Its going to be a great week...I just know it! :)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Get ready for Session 3

We are ready for our final week of fun with Session 3! Just in case you've misplaced your bus schedule, here it is. Don't forget your Medicine Labeling Form! Here's the Packing List  in case you need an extra copy.



BUS A - NORTH COUNTY
Placentia Yorba Linda Unified Education Services Center
4999 Casa Loma Avenue
Yorba Linda, CA 92886 
Student arrival time: 8:05 am
Bus Departs: 8:20 am

Garden Grove Unified District Office
10331 Stanford Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92840
Student Arrival Time: 8:45 am
Bus Departs: 9:00 am

Santa Ana Unified District Office
1601 E Chestnut Ave.           
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Student Arrival Time: 9:15am
Bus Departs: 9:30 am

BUS B - SOUTH/ CENTRAL COUNTY
Saddleback Valley Unified District Office
25631 Peter A Hartman Way
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Student Arrival Time: 8:10am
Bus Departs: 8:25am

Irvine Unified District Office
5050 Barranca Parkway
Irvine, CA 92604
Student Arrival Time: 9:00 am
Bus Departs: 9:15 am

California Elementary
3232 California Street
Costa Mesa, CA                                             
Student Arrival Time: 9:30 am                             
Bus Departs: 9:45 am
California's parking lot is all torn up, so please meet along the sidewalk in front of the school.


View arts-X-press Bus Stops in a larger map

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

'West Side Story' speaks to arts kids

Article Tab: Two of the arts-x-press kids, Chloe, far left, and Andy, far right, pose with the leads of West Side Story, Keaton Williams (Tony) and Gina Velez (Maria), after Sunday night's show at the Chance Theater in Anaheim.

Session 2: Claire's Creative Expression Class

Claire's Creative Expression Group has had a great week of journal writing, poetry, tableau vivant, and crafting mandalas. Here's one of our favorite group acrostic poems, "Musical".

MUSICAL

Maestro
Under the stars
Symphony tuning up
Instruments sparkling in the spotlight
Classical, Broadway and jazz
Amazing, awsome
"Ladies and Gentlemen..."

We are all looking forward to our parent presentation tonight!



Session 2, Day 4: Laguna Photos!

Here are some more lovely photos of our resident artists from Laguna yesterday. The Pageant was amazing and everyone loved it! We can't wait to see you all tonight! :)








Session 2, Day 3: From our counselors, with love

As this mornings alarm clocks went off shortly after the lovely hour at 7 am, a sigh of annoyance echoed through the dorms of Vanguard University.  The campers dragged themselves out of their beds with the idea in their heads that it meant another amazing, magic filled day of arts-x-press.

After working through riddles in creative expressions and showing off our talents in our arts workshops we ventured to Laguna for another exciting excursion. Pictures came alive at The Pageant of the Masters, immersing the students in a magical world of artistic creations and widening their knowledge of the geniuses of the world. As we left the performance the students remained entranced by the spectacle they had witnessed and tumbled into their beds exhausted from the days activities.

-Counselor Sara A.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Parent Presentation Week 2

We can't wait to see everyone at the Parent Presentation on Tuesday! It begins at 6:45 pm in the big white events tent in the northwestcorner of Vanguard's campus. Parking is free, the whole family is welcome, and your young artists can't wait to show you what they've accomplished this week.

A professional videographer will record the presentation. You can pre-order a DVD for $15 and professional group photos for $10 on Tuesday night. ArtsMart merchandise will also be on sale.

Session 2, Day 3: Moar Pictures!

I know you all love seeing these photos, so here's so more! By the way, we're off to Laguna for the Pageant of the Masters tonight right after we eat our lunch!









Session 2: Kelly's Creative Expression Class

We saw the most AMAZING show last night....here are some of our thoughts!

West Side Story
Racism, hatred,
Rumbles, fighting, shooting,
The love of two different people,
West Side Story

Someday
I say
someday
that I shall sing
on Broadway
with the lights on my face
and the music in the background
touching the hearts of all the people
with a cast
and a crew
on Broadway
with the lights on my face
and the music in the background

West Side Story
tragic, unexpecting,
rumbling, loving, dying,
Prejudice killed them all
West Side Story

Behind us actors pounded and raced,
But it was weird when they got all up in our face,
I examine amazing actors and dancers in front of me.
Throughout the play everything is action packed.
During the play racism takes a big role.
I began to wonder if this still happens today.
Toward Maria, Tony ran,
But the gunshot made it too late.
I welcome acting into my life. 


Session 2, Day 2: West Side Story!

Hello all in the world out there! In a short blurb tonight, I wanted to check in with y'all and let you know that we got back from the Chance Theater safely, and boy was the show AMAZING!

All the artists loved the show and commented that they had never seen anything like it. Because the theater was so intimate, we were the entire audience and got to experience the action and scenes all around us and right in our faces (literally, right in our faces). The show had plenty of dancing, singing, action, and eye-popping moments for everyone.

Afterwards, we got the super cool opportunity to have a talk-back with the cast of the show and we all got to ask them questions! It was a great time for us to learn more about the performers in the show and about what it takes to be in a show like West Side Story. The cast even came around and interacted with us while we waited around for the bus and our group to get ready. So cool!

All in all, we had a wonderful day two and are looking forward to much, much more. I can't wait to experience our Monday since it will surely be an awesome time. What is going on Monday you ask? One word: pageant!

P.S. Check out are cool group photo with the entire cast of West Side Story!



Sunday, July 22, 2012

Session 2, Day 2: Pictures!

As promised, here are some more pictures from today in our spotlight workshops!







Session 2: Kjersti's Creative Expression Class

Hello!!!  We are having a wonderful time here at arts-X-press.  The students have already had two Creative Expression sessions where we have been exploring expressing ourselves and our thoughts through various creative activities.  Kjersti's Creative Expression group began our session yesterday by learning a song riddle titled "Rain, Rain".  Today we began by trying to figure out the riddle within the song.  We also shared with each other our "I Am" Poems as well as our thoughts from a journal entry.  All 16 members of our Creative Expression class wrote 2 Poems in collaboration.  The first was our "We Are" poem:

We are young
We wonder what will happen next
We hear talking
We see poetry
We want water
We are talented

We understand
We sang the "Rain, Rain" song riddle
We dream about the future
We try new things and take risks
We hope it goes well
We are arts-X-press

The second is an acrostic poem using the theme of the week, Determination:

Determination
Energetic
To strive for our best
Excellence
Readiness
Mastering our goals
Imagining ourselves at the finish line
Never say "impossible"
Aspiring to greatness
Top notch / Top of the world
"I Will" is more important than "I.Q."
Overcoming obstacles
Never give up

We will all be sharing some of our personal reflections at the Parent Presentation on Tuesday evening.  Can't wait to share!!!

Session 2, Day 2: Determination!

Good morning world! We hope you enjoyed yesterday's update on our activities and are determined to join us on Tuesday evening! In case you didn't know, the theme of our week is 'Determination' and we are wholeheartedly embracing it! In all the activities we do, we are constantly challenging the artists to figure out how determination figures into art. Be sure to ask your young artists when they return about how determined they are to make the arts a part of their lives! Nonetheless, here we go with some more updates!

Last night, we had an AMAZING time at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater hearing the Pacific Symphony perform with three actors who have played the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera. All three singers were great performers and made all the broadway songs they performed come alive for us. We got to hear songs from Jekyll and Hyde, Phantom of the Opera, Guys and Dolls, Les Miserables, and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. We even got a special shoutout during the show from Richard Kaufman, the conductor of the symphony!

FACT: If you ever want to see how adorable 50 tired little faces look, work at Arts-X-press. Once we got home, everyone was beyond tired and their faces clearly showed it. Within 30 minutes, we had lights out and everyone went soundly to sleep! Pure awesomeness.

Today, we've started our day with a hearty breakfast of eggs, fruit, bacon, and potato slices. I know all the kids loved it, but their faces were just too tired to show it ;)

Afterwards, the artists got to go back to their Creative Expression classes and express their thoughts and ideas about the show last night. Everyone's already opened up and really embraced what artistic expression is all about. It's so exciting to see everyone get so enthusiastic about the arts!

Now the artists are back in art workshops and are working more on their respective art forms and creative risks. We have a lot more planned for this afternoon and evening, including our excursion to see West Side Story at the Chance Theater in Anaheim! Check back later and tonight for another update, including more photos. Remember, stay classy!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Session 2, Day 1: It Begins!

Good afternoon everyone! My name is James and I am your awesome coordinator for this amazing, outstanding, and adventuresome Session Two of Arts-X-press. I'm here to keep you up to date about the latest and greatest artistic moments that your "young artists" have been kept busy doing. Trust me, we've kept them busy and it's only three o'clock in the afternoon.

It was so fun to welcome all your artists to Vanguard today! Normally most of the kids are nervous as heck, but there's something about this group that made them open up pretty quickly. We have a lot of GREAT personalities, and I can tell that this group is going to have an amazing week.

Once we had them drop off them luggage in our ultra-secure dorms, we had our enthusiastic counselors break the ice with them by playing new games (check out the photos in this post!). I'm not quite sure if I understood what they were playing, but I heard a LOT of laughing and saw a LOT of smiling (and some sweating), all of which are awesome things :)

After new games, we got to have the opportunity to test out their "nonverbal communication skills" by working with the entire group to make shapes that we called out- and they couldn't speak a word! (dun dun dun) I know, you're thinking "What?! My child not saying a word?!" Well it happened... kinda. Let's just say their shape building abilities can use more work. And more particularly, distinguishing between a "circle," "rectangle," and "the letter C." Homework!

Once all of that mess subsided... LUNCH! Let me tell you, these kids devoured the food and I heard nothing from them but how amazing it was. Between the ravioli, pasta, potatoes, fruit, salad, and chicken, they fell in love. You can rest assured that they are well fed and will have no problem with their dietary habits. You know what they say: "A full belly, is an artistic belly." That's our motto here at Arts-X-press.

Drumroll please... finally the moment your artists were waiting for came... ARTS WORKSHOPS! Yes, they finally got to find out which art workshop they got placed into (either Dance, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Theater, or Visual Art). Those days and days of them worrying and freaking out about which workshop they got have now ended. With our overly cool and creative teachers announcing their students, they were off! I don't want to give away anything for the parent presentation, but let me just say that they are whipping up some crazy cool stuff for y'all. It's artistically legit.

The best part of the experience for the students is seeing some of them have a blast in art workshops they never even thought they would be in. It has only been the first day, but a lot of students are already having a great time and enjoying their time. That's what we're all about: taking risks! Hopefully now they'll come back home to you and take those risks, like cleaning their rooms!

In the spirit of keeping the artists ever engaged until they tire their little minds out, we've now whisked them away to their Creative Expression (CE) classes! Creative Expression is a time for the artists to actively stretch their creative muscles to make crafts, art, do lots of writing and reflecting, and to express themselves about how their experience at Arts-X-press is slowly but surely changing their life. You'll be hearing much more about CE soon I promise.

After CE, we will be equipping the artists with the latest Pacific Symphony Arts-X-press t-shirts (they're all the rage in Paris) and heading over to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater for "The Three Phantoms!" It's sure to be an amazing concert.

Check back on our blog later for more updates from myself, our counselors, and our crazy cool staff! Stay classy, Arts-X-press parents.