Fredericksburg Freshman Named Virginia’s 2019 Poetry Out Loud Champion
Contact: Janet Starke
Executive Director
(804) 225-3132
Richmond, VA – March 22, 2019
The Virginia Commission for the Arts is pleased to announce that Katherine Nguyen, a freshman at Colonial Forge High School, Stafford, has been selected as Virginia’s 2019 Poetry Out Loud Champion. The competition was held on March 15, 2019 at WCVE, The Community Idea Stations, Richmond. Katherine competed with nine other regional winners chosen from an original field of 7,800 high students across the Commonwealth. 54 public and private schools participated in Virginia’s 2019 program.
The Virginia Commission for the Arts administers the statewide Poetry Out Loud program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. 2019 marks the fifth year the Commission has partnered with WCVE to host and record the competition.
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In the third and final round of recitation for the top three finalists, Katherine took top honors by reciting
“I Sit and Sew”
by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson. She received a $200 cash award and an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for the national championship. Colonial Forge High School received a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. First runner-up Zoree Jones, a junior at Patriot High School, Nokesville received a $100 cash award and a $200 stipend for her school library. Second runner-up Sophia Skiavo, a junior at Chantilly High School, Chantilly received a poetry anthology.
Alexandra Wiles, a Senior Commonwealth Circle Liaison for the Community Idea Stations, served as the emcee of the program for the fourth consecutive year. The March 15
th
program opened with a recitation of an original work
“The Ides of March”,
composed for the day by Derek Kannemeyer a poet and performance judge. Christlyez Bacon, a GRAMMY®️
Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, DC provided the intermission entertainment.
Awards were presented by Virginia’s Secretary of Education, Atif Qarni and closing remarks were provided by the Commission’s Executive Director, Janet Starke. She commented: “The Commission is proud to support Poetry Out Loud, a free and accessible program for all high school students across the Commonwealth. This program continues to draw students of diverse backgrounds and experiences, empowering them to find their voice while learning to
master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life
.”
The WCVE recording of the Poetry Out Loud, The Virginia Finals will air throughout the state in April. Broadcasting dates and affiliates are listed below. Supporters can cheer Katherine on at the national competition April 30 through May 1, 2019, at the Lisner Auditorium on the campus of George Washington University. A live stream of the competition can be accessed through the National Endowment for the Arts website,
www.arts.gov
.
Broadcast Dates
WCVE PBS Richmond & WHTJ PBS Charlottesvile
Thursday, April 11 at 9pm
Sunday, April 14 at 2pm
WCVW PBS Richmond
Monday, April 15 at 9pm
WVPT PBS Harrisonburg
Monday, April 15 at 9pm
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National Endowment for the Arts Has a New Look
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The National Endowment for the Arts recently unveiled a new logo and brand. Be reminded that all grantees must use include logos of both Virginia Commission for the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts in ads, playbills and other promotional materials. Visit
here
to download the new NEA suite of logos.
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Registration Open for Create Virginia, Taking Place March 29 – 30 at Lynchburg’s Academy Center for the Arts
Registration is still open for Create Virginia, (formerly
Create Lynchburg)
, which returns to the Academy Center of the Arts, with Keynote Speaker Lulu Miller of NPR’s Invisibilia,
presenting on March 30
!
Create Virginia is an arts and business conference that gives artists and makers opportunities to learn from one another and from state and national experts about how to build and grow sustainable arts-based ventures.
Additional speakers will include: Elise Spontarelli of Vector Space, Randy Cohen of Americans for the Arts, Marc Wilson of Virginia Small Business Development Center, Karena J. Heyward of Southern New Hampshire University, Charese Chambers of Financial Fancy, Joy Peterson Heyrman of Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Christina Garnett of Marketing Media Maven, and more!
Also included this year is a Friday Open Studio Tour at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) where one of the world’s leading working artist retreats in Amherst will open its doors for a rare look into the studios of writers, visual artists, and composers. Attendees will be welcome to visit the studios of select Fellows in residence and talk to them about their work and the creative process. An Opening Reception will follow.
Tickets start at just $20 for students and $55 for individuals. For more information or to see a schedule, visit
createvirginia.com
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