400 high school students to attend 2024 arts conference

Brianna Maestas, Amarillo Globe-News
·3 min read

Amarillo College (AC), in collaboration with the Texas Panhandle Art Education Association (TPAEA), is presenting its IGNITE Creative Arts High School Conference on Friday, April 19 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the AC Washington Street campus.

The event, including 400 Texas Panhandle area high school students, is aimed to inspire young artists as they prepare to enter their higher education and the workforce. During the conference, students will participate in faculty and artisan led workshops, separated into morning and afternoon breakout sessions, with plenty of hands-on opportunities. Some of the sessions will include topics and mediums such as green screen, action drawing, clay animals, stencils for simpletons, Henna body art and many more.

AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.
AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.
AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.
AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.

Around noon, keynote speaker, contemporary artist and filmmaker Caledonia Curry, also known as Swoon, will share her artistic journey from entering the art world as a street artist and gaining international recognition in a male dominated field, to her numerous solo and group exhibitions seen in major museums and galleries around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1, New York; the Brooklyn Museum; the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; and more. The artist's work can also been seen year-round in public and private collections at the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and the Detroit Institute of Art.

In addition to her paving the way for female and young artists, Swoon has also taken that initiative a step further by establishing the Heliotrope Foundation in 2015, to support collaborative projects that use art to respond to crisis.

"Having Swoon as our keynote speaker this year is remarkable. To bring in this caliber of artist that has made such an impact on the art world internationally, who has gotten her start as one of the first female street artists in a predominantly male field, is life changing. Our kids having access to speak and learn from this caliber of an artist, we couldn't be more thrilled to have her connect with these students," TPAEA president Shawn Kennedy said.

As stated in an AC news release, this event will be the fourth-ever Ignite Conference since its establishment in 2019, following a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To kick off the event, Brick & Elm magazine’s Jason Boyett will lead a panel alongside area artists discussing this year's topic of creative careers.

Some of the area high schools slotted to attend IGNITE include Amarillo, Boys Ranch, Bushland, Canyon, Plainview, River Road, Sanford-Fritch, Spearman, and Texline schools. The conference will be held throughout the college campus, including sessions held in AC's College Union Building Byrd, Parcells and Ordway halls.

AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.
AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.
AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.
AC and TPAEA have invited 400 area high school students to the upcoming IGNITE arts conference, featuring keynote speaker Swoon, inspiring young artists to pursue an art related career, April 19 at the AC Washington street campus.

AC instructor of art and conference organizer Stephanie Jung stated in a news release: “We are glad to welcome these students to AC, and to highlight the academic pathway in the arts from high school, to college, to university ... our conference is designed to bring young creatives and local arts professionals together to forge connections and introduce students to the many arts resources available locally.”

“Fostering the creative spirit and connecting these students to the larger arts community is special, and it’s even better when we can offer a keynote from an artist who’s had such a far-reaching altruistic impact,” Jung added.

Presentations will be made by AC faculty, West Texas A&M University faculty and students, as well as some area high school faculty. Museum curators, community artists and art experts, and representatives of the mural creative Blank Spaces also will lead sessions.

"This event was created to really help build and connect these young artists to people in our community that are making a living as artists, doing what they love," Kennedy said. "This event also creates a connection with our working artists and gives then the opportunity to meet these incoming artists and bolster and invest in them to further the local art community."

This event was sponsored by Art Force Amarillo and the AC Foundation. For more information about IGNITE 2024, visit AC online at https://www.actx.edu/ or TPAEA at https://www.tpaea.org/ .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Students to attend fourth IGNITE Creative Arts High School conference