Photo: John Maley

Hey, Atlanta teenagers, the Woodruff Arts Center is looking for you.

The Woodruff, with $2 million worth of help from Wells Fargo, has launched Arts Vibe, a program designed for arts-oriented teens — and those less familiar with the arts. And a lot of it will be free.

All of the Arts Center’s divisions — the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art and Young Audiences — are taking part, and you don’t have to wait long to see the new program in action.

Its first Teen Night happens this Saturday, from 7 to 11 p.m., on the Midtown campus. It will include performances by teens from the Alliance Theatre’s Performing Arts Camp (pictured), including an original piece inspired by the High Museum’s Rising Up: Hale Woodruff’s Murals at Talladega College exhibition. Teens (admission is free with a high school ID) can see that exhibition and one titled Picturing New York/Picturing the South, try printmaking, take part in an open-mic session and/or take in performances by The Anons (from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and Southwest DeKalb High School), the Hole in the Wall (North Atlanta High School) or the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. They can also wander through the High’s collections and meet new friends. DETAILS HERE.

Arts Vibe will offer a combination of paid and free events for students in grades 6–12. The program is expected to reach more than 10,000 teens this year and, if it goes as organizers wish, help put the Woodruff Arts Center on teenagers’ radar as a place to go.

Arts Vibe events will include designated Teen Nights on the Woodruff campus, music lessons, poetry slams, acting classes, behind-the-scenes access to rehearsals and productions, and performances by teens for teens by Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra musicians and Alliance Theatre students. Discounted tickets to select Woodruff Arts Center events, and reduced MARTA and parking rates, are also part of the program. Check out Arts Vibe on Facebook at facebook.com/ArtsVibeTeens.

About Kathy Janich

Kathy Janich is a longtime arts journalist who has been seeing, working in or writing about the performing arts for most of her life. She's a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, Americans for the Arts and the National Arts Marketing Project. Full disclosure: She’s also an artistic associate at Synchronicity Theatre.

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