The arts are alive and well in West Virginia due to the many public and private organizations that empower young artists from every corner of the state in multiple different art forms.

 

One of those organizations, of which only a handful of students from each county get the opportunity to attend, is the West Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts. This event takes place annually for sophomores at different universities in the state. This year it will be held for three weeks from June 25 to July 15, 2017 at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Five students from Bridgeport were invited to attend for different arts-related subjects. Those students include Raeanne Beckner for creative writing, Callia Byard for acting, Jordan Kennedy-Rea for acting, Mallory Leadman for studio art, and Kaylee Smith for dancing.

 

In order for students to get accepted, they had to go through a rigorous admission process, along with giving a presentation that differed for each student. It depended on what art classes he/she desired to attend at the academy. Then, they had to take their work and audition in front of an adjudicator.

 

“Before one auditioned, they had to do the standard admission essay, GPA, transcript, and two teacher letters of recommendation. For creative writing I had to provide a six-to-eight-page piece on poetry or some other form of prose fiction. I chose poetry,” said Beckner.

 

“I auditioned back in early January at University High School. They had different rooms for different auditions, and I went in for acting. I introduced myself, did my monologue, and the adjudicator asked me a few questions. He asked if I had other hobbies, and I mentioned that I took voice lessons. Then, he asked me to sing a song. I ended up singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.” He also was curious as to why I chose a Romeo monologue to do instead of one of Juliet’s. I said that not many girls are willing to play guys onstage. It was a harder undertaking, and I wanted to challenge myself,” said Byard.

 

Many of the students auditioned for various reasons, “I have always drawn, always have since I was little. I wanted to learn different techniques to become a better artist. I had to create many different styles of art to audition for studio art. I had to submit seven different media types including charcoal, landscape, and self-portrait. I had to put a scrap book together of what I was thinking and sketches of my artwork to detail my creative process,” said Leadman.

 

Most of these students found their passion for the arts at a young age, “I auditioned for dance because I have been dancing since I was two. This is what I want to pursue when I get older, and I would enjoy the opportunity to meet people who had the same goals as me. I also wanted to meet people who made those goals achievable and a reality,” said Kaylee Smith.

 

Many also wanted to attend in order to seek improvement, “I auditioned for the acting division because my acting skills have been my main focal point this year in relation to the other arts I take part in. I auditioned for Governor’s School of the Arts because I knew people who went before and gave it overwhelmingly positive reviews. I conducted some of my own research and concluded that this academy would provide an excellent training in my area of focus,” said Kennedy-Rea.

 

Most found the process a bit overwhelming, “It was really nerve-wracking. They wanted you to come a half-an-hour early, and the wait really got to me. First was our individual interviews, where you showed the teacher your manuscript of the sample writings you prepared. I then had to wait for another hour and worked myself up even more, and I was making myself really anxious. You then have a group write, and we were given fifteen minutes to write a piece sitting next to the opponents from my region. After all of that, we had to wait nearly two months before we would receive the news of our acceptance or not,” said Beckner.

 

The majority of students that applied found the whole scenario very stressful at first, but were relieved when they were finished, “I was very scared, I expected it to be a lot more formal. The art teacher, that was my adjudicator, was really laid back, and we talked like we were familiar with each other which made me calm down. I felt really confident with the interview process, and thought I had a good shot of getting in,” said Leadman.

 

All of the five students felt very proud once receiving the news of their acceptance, “It was early March, and I got in the car after school, and my mom said she got a letter from the governor. I was sweating and very stressed out reading the letter until I received the news I got in. I felt ecstatic, my parents were very proud because they knew how hard I had worked to get accepted,” said Smith.

 

These five sophomores will hear more about what kind of itinerary they will have sometime in May, but for now all we know is that they are in for an enriching experience in Huntington this summer.