Ocean County Teen Arts Festival Finale Will Honor Artists

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- Teen artists from high schools around Ocean County will be honored Thursday evening at Ocean County College during the Salute to Ocean County, A Celebration of Arts & Heritage, the culmination of the 39th Ocean County Teen Arts Festival.

The event, at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts, begins at 6 p.m. and will highlight the talents of Ocean County high school students in both performing and visual arts.

The students' work has been highlighted over the course of the last two weeks at OCC, with presentations of dance and music as well as artwork on display. Students from Brick Memorial, Brick Township, Central Regional, Donovan Catholic, Jackson Liberty, Jackson Memorial, Lacey Township, Lakewood, Manchester, Ocean County Vocational-Technical School (OCVTS)/Brick, Pinelands Regional, Point Pleasant Borough, Southern Regional, and Toms River High Schools East, North and South all participated.

The Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission is the administrator of the Ocean County Teen Arts Program. The annual festival is under the direction of Bobbi Krantz, festival coordinator and director of the Grunin Center for the Arts.

“The Teen Arts Program has a long and glorious history," Krantz said. "It is not a contest – there are no winners or losers. Rather it is an arts-in-education project typical to New Jersey where every participant has an opportunity to have his or her work critiqued by professionals in their field.

The program, which started more than 40 years ago in Middlesex County, has grown to encompass almost all of New Jersey’s 21 counties, she said.

Awards will be given Thursday night in a variety of categories. A dessert reception will be provided by OCVTS/Brick.

In addition, several schools that participated in the Ocean County Teen Arts Festival and have been chosen to represent Ocean County at the New Jersey State Festival will perform. All others who have been Critiqued for Excellence will be acknowledged, as well.

The state Teen Arts Festival, June 1-3, also will be held at Ocean County College.

Funding for the Ocean County Teen Arts Festival is made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State through grant funds administered by the Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission with additional funding by Ocean County College and the Ocean County high schools.