• Students gear up for OSAI

By Meghan McCormick

Transcript Staff Writer

Thirty-five Norman teenagers will get the chance to learn from award-winning artists in nine disciplines when they attend the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute this summer at Quartz Mountain Arts and Conference Center in Lone Wolf.

According to a press release, students will arrive June 14 for a two-week stay. All teenagers were required to audition for a spot at the institute.

Annina Collier, Oklahoma Arts Institute, director of public relations and outreach, said 272 students from across the state were selected to attend the program which is celebrating its 31st anniversary. The Oklahoma Arts Institute offers instruction in the areas of acting, creative writing, ballet, modern dance, orchestra, chorus, drawing/painting, photography and film/video.

“This is the only one that has nine different artistic disciplines all together,” Collier said.

Students selected into the program include creative writing, Jisu Kim and Ali Van Swearingen; ballet, Christy Strauss, Talya Krumholz, Michelle Yu and Mindy Crow; modern dance, Clare Springer, alternate, Jaclyn Denny; orchestra, Natalie Mann, Dylan Reif, Zhou Fang, Kelsie Brooks, Clayton Blosser, Alan Pate, Skylar Gilbert and Zihao Xia. Alternates: Tony Lai, Samuel Wang, Erin Raiber, Justin Hoelscher and Benjamin Zhou; choir, Katie Gardner, Caitlin Royse, Mackenzie Rogers, Kira Rice and Kirk Forthman, alternate, Christina Doak; film and video, Molly Youngblood; photography, Julie Bragg, Shyloh Cooper, Dani Knight, Chelsey Oliver and Hannah Stapp; drawing and painting, Melissa McDonald and Michael Lombardo.

Collier said the residential arts program allows teenagers to collaborate and feed off each other. Each student who is accepted, receives a full scholarship into OSAI worth more than $2,000.

This will be the fourth year for Norman North senior Kirk Forthman to attend the OSAI. Forthman, 18, has focused on choral music every year.

“The institute is a really good place to meet friends and study in an environment where you can devote yourself to what you’re studying,” Forthman said.

In the fall, Forthman will attend the University of Oklahoma. He has chosen to major in music education.

He said he will continue to work with choral conductors on techniques that a musician must acquire to do well. The curriculum proves to be challenging.

“They always bring in the best of the best when it comes to conductors,” Forthman said.

Seventeen-year-old Alexis Van Swearingen said being accepted into the OSAI is a rare opportunity for young artists. This will be her first year at the arts institute.

“Quartz is such a good opportunity for someone interested in visual and performing arts,” Van Swearingen said.

When Van Swearingen arrives at Quartz Mountain in June, she will spend two weeks enhancing her creative writing skills. Van Swearingen said she has been writing since her early childhood.

“It’s just something I have always been passionate about,” she said.

The teenager said she finds enjoyment writing about poetry. She also looks forward to meeting people who share similar interests.

“I think the experience itself is going to be an inspiration to me,” she said.

Hannah Stapp, 15, will be the second person in her family to study at OSAI.

“My dad went 20 years ago,” she said.

Stapp said she is interested in photography and auditioned for the program using a portfolio filled with 10 pictures. She learned in April that she was accepted into the summer arts program.

“I hope that I learn a lot more,” she said. “Right now, I have taught myself to take pictures.”

Stapp said she has only used digital cameras to photograph objects and will learn how equipment inside dark rooms is used to process pictures.

“I hope I get a lot of good pictures out of it because it will add to my portfolio,” she said.

Collier said the program will make it easier for parents to keep in touch with their children while gone to OSAI.

“Parents and friends of the Norman students will be able to keep up with what’s going on at Quartz Mountain by listening to the podcasts on their computer or MP3 player. The podcasts will include recordings of performances, interviews with students and faculty and more. The podcasts also will feature lots of photos, including candids and behind-the-scenes type shots. Check our Web site in a couple of weeks for the first podcast: www.oaiquartz.org.”

Meghan McCormick

366-3539

mmccormick@normantranscript.com