Delphi Opera House Receives $11,500 Grant

The Delphi Opera House received a $11,500 from the Carroll County Community Foundation for the art enrichment program expected to impact the youth of Carroll County.

The Community Foundation presents the Delphi Opera House with a $11,500 grant for the Art Enrichment Program. – Photo courtesy of the Delphi Opera House.

As the 2023 Delphi Opera House Art Enrichment Program for Youth wraps up its fall session, the Community Foundation provided another grant for its continuation into 2024. This year, the program offered a cheer clinic, an introduction to theatre, a drawing animals program, an instrument petting zoo, face painting and a working with ink workshop.

The program classes offer three sessions for students to participate in during each date provided. The classes are free for ages kindergarten through senior year, and registration remains open for the classes until the classes are filled. Once the dates are finalized for the 2024 season, participants may register at delphioperahouse.org.

For the 2023 fall session, the Delphi Opera House kicked off with a cheer clinic on Oct. 7 for third grade to sixth grade students. The clinic welcomed Alisha Kuckartz, a former Purdue Golden Girl and the owner and lead teacher at Turning Pointe Academy in West Lafayette, to teach the participants different cheer techniques. The clinic was focused on establishing a fun, high-energy class focused on the fundamentals of pom and cheer motions, jumps and basic dance techniques.

The 2023 fall session also welcomed participants from sixth grade through eighth grade for the introduction to theatre class on Oct. 7. The class welcomed Rebekah Runner, the theatre instructor at Faith Christian Church in Lafayette, who had performed and directed 23 shows. The class focused upon exploring different characters through movement and utilized theatre games, activities and group work to help participants develop their selected characters and grasp how the character would move. The participants also learned the dance choreography to “I Won’t Grow Up” from “Peter Pan Jr.”

The 2023 fall session invited grades six through twelve to participate in a drawing animals class as well on Oct. 7, which was taught by Daniel Bradford, Delphi High School art teacher, where participants learned to draw animals from initial shapes to a finished product.

The classes continued on Nov. 4 with an instrument petting zoo for grades kindergaten through senior year, which was taught by band directors Jay Dennison and Bryce Styles. The directors brought a host of band instruments for the participants to explore, and Parker Denny of Don’s Guitars in Lafayette provided several guitars ranging from acoustic guitars to electric guitars, banjos and mandolins for the participants to explore.

The 2023 fall session also hosted a face painting demonstration headed by Cesar Cervantes, a local artist known for his murals, painted rocks and face painting. The class helped participants learn the intricacies of face painting to express their artistic hand.

The last workshop of the fall session was the working with ink program for eighth grade through senior year, taught by Daniel Bradford. Bradford taught the participants how to create masterpieces with black ink and brushes.

The 2024 session is gearing up to introduce new courses alongside maintaining the artistic and musical focus of the 2023 session. The Delphi Opera House leaders expressed that the Community Foundation’s initial pledge of support for the 2023 session and the ongoing support for the 2024 session has allowed for the programs to continue to develop and reach the youth of the Carroll County community.

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