The Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts

Day 11: We started our Wednesday as we usually do, hearing from a visiting working artist (thanks for visiting, Tina Gutierrez!), followed by time in studio and strengthening the connections we’ve made here at GSA. But before long, it was time to climb on the buses for our first All School Field Trip to see Disney’s The Lion King at Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center for the Arts! Thanks to a generous donation from Broadway Across America, all 276 of our students were able to attend this wonderful piece of live theatre featuring dynamic music, incredible choreography, and breathtaking puppetry. We were also treated to a talkback after the show where our students could hear about what it’s like to be a touring performer and have other questions answered directly by the cast! A major thank you is due to the entire team at the Aronoff, Broadway Across America, and Disney Theatrical Group for creating such a spectacular night for our young artists— for many of whom this was their first chance to attend a live production of this scale!


Photos by: Kizuna Studios /

If you LOVE GSA, be sure to make a donation to our campaign by visiting www.heygsa.org!

Day 10: We’re starting to play around in studio a bit more this week! Focus is shifting to what skills our young artists can bring home with them, including wellness practices like yoga, interdisciplinary collaboration, and “building your book” with new audition skills, songs, or pieces for your portfolio. We’ve got some exciting events coming up the second half of this week, so focus in studio is imperative on days like today!


Photos by: Kizuna Studios /

If you LOVE GSA, be sure to make a donation to our campaign by visiting www.heygsa.org!

Days 8-9: Sunday and Monday were filled with College fairs, community service projects, collaborative studio sessions, and some much needed rest and relaxation! We start things a bit later on Sundays to allow students to participate in religious services, catch up on sleep, and reset for the week ahead! But then, it was back to the action with Week 2 in full swing.


Photos by: Kizuna Studios /

If you LOVE GSA, be sure to make a donation to our campaign by visiting www.heygsa.org!

“There were two major things that GSA meant to me as a young creative. One was community. Coming from a small, rural town in Kentucky there weren’t many other students who were as obsessed with and nerdy about the arts as I was. …The second is hope for the future. GSA was the first place I met adults who were career performers, makers, and educators in the arts. Witnessing these models…, many of whom were from Kentucky and/or working in Kentucky, gave me hope that my own future could hold these same possibilities. … Returning to GSA as a faculty member means connection and mentorship. … I am also fortunate enough to maintain friendships, collaborations, and connections to artists from Kentucky … Often these connections reach beyond GSA and enhance the artistic landscape in the field of dance in Kentucky.”
John T. Cartwright, GSA 2002 Alum (Dance)
Support GSA & Kentucky’s young creatives by donating to HEYGSA! www.heygsa.org

Days 6 and 7: Weekend 1 Recap!! Weekend started our first weekend with a visit from Governor Andy Beshear who was able to be one of the first people to see the incredible art our students are creating this summer. SMORGs were next on the itinerary, which are workshops offered for our young artists invite them to experience an artform other than the artform they were accepted into GSA to study. Shortly after that was Coffee House, an informal talent show for our young artists to share their unique talents with the entire class of students! Of course, it wouldn’t be a jam-packed-GSA-weekend without some dedicated time in studio as well.


Photos by: Kizuna Studios /

If you LOVE GSA, be sure to make a donation to our campaign by visiting www.heygsa.org!

We were so honored to host Governor Andy Beshear on campus last week! Thanks for stopping by!

Day 5: Thursday took a number of our art forms off campus for some field trips to some of the local arts organizations around the greater Cincinnati area! After a Personal Geography presentation from Drama and Graphic Design faculty, our Graphic Design students jumped over to the American Sign Museum while Creative Writing visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The fun didn’t stop there for CW, though. We also had the honor of hosting a poetry reading with the Affrilachian Poets Collective to round out the night.


Photos by: Kizuna Studios /

If you LOVE GSA, be sure to make a donation to our campaign by visiting www.heygsa.org!

Day 3: Tuesday was our first 3-studio day of the summer! That means plenty of time to explore the principles of ballet in a Dance class, movement techniques in Drama, the geometric shapes of tabletop objects in Architecture + Design, figure drawing in Visual Art, discovering how some of the natural spaces around campus inspire Film + Photography, and more! The talent of this crew of young artists is palpable here at GSA, and we can’t wait to see how it grows even deeper over these next three weeks.


Photos by: Kizuna Studios /

If you LOVE GSA, be sure to make a donation to our campaign by visiting www.heygsa.org!