NEW ORLEANS (press release) – After a two-year hiatus, Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA) is holding its second YALA Art Live fundraiser in partnership with the Krewe of Rolling Elvi and Young Audiences Charter Schools (YACS). YALA Art Live centers around a unique type of visual performance art: live painting. Watch YACS talented art students Caiden Donois (11th grade), Mia Cano (10th grade), and Chaila McGuiness (10th grade) collaborate with professional New Orleans area artists Jessica Strahan, Josh Wingerter, and Alina Allen. Art lovers of all ages are welcome to join the festivities, scheduled to take place on April 1, 2022 from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Urban South Brewery, 1645 Tchoupitoulas Street. The local brewery has graciously committed to donating a portion of every pint sold during the free community event.
“YALA Art Live creates a reciprocal relationship wherein students are able to interact with our broader community through the arts, and the community becomes aware of the talent and potential that exists in our New Orleans youth,” said Jenny James, Executive Director of YALA.“We strive to help students realize the many opportunities that arts education affords them. Pairing them up with a professional artist shows them they have the tools to work with an artist of that caliber, and gives them the confidence to know that art is an option for the future, whether they want to practice professionally or as a hobby.”
Paintings created at the event will be auctioned online to support YALA’s afterschool and summer programs. YALA’s afterschool programs currently operate at twelve locations across the Greater New Orleans Area. The programs combine academics, arts and culture in order to develop students intellectually and socially.
“YALA’s afterschool and summer programming is vital to the community, because it is where the next generation of artist, thinkers, and creatives are born,” said Director of Extended Learning Zakiya Cornish. “Afterschool programs like ours are often where children first get to experience art and they can foster their innate talents while expressing who they are.”
YALA Art Live is presented in partnership with Krewe of Rolling Elvi and Young Audiences Charter School, and sponsored by First Horizon Bank, formerly IBERIABANK. This is the second time it will be held at Urban South Brewery. Urban South Brewery Taproom Event Manager Jen Bordenave said partnering with YALA for the event was a “no-brainer.”
“At Urban South we support the community at every chance we can,” Bordenave said. “It will be amazing to witness the collaboration between the artists and the children. I’m also excited to see the art and how it all comes together.”For more information on YALA Art Live, and the arts educations programs it will help fund visit www.ya4la.org/artlive. You can also follow YALA on Facebook and Instagram.
