25 Mar OCA ARTIST FACTORY
COMMUNITY YOUTH ART WORKSHOPS TAUGHT BY PROFESSIONAL UTAH ARTISTS
Ogden Contemporary Arts is launching our youth art program, the OCA Artist Factory. For our pilot program, we have partnered with Ogden’s very own Youth Impact and have developed a comprehensive schedule of quality workshops taught by professional Utah Artists. The workshops will take place at Youth Impact and is available to children currently enrolled in their program. Our robust Spring 2022 schedule includes courses in videography, photography, graphic design, printmaking, painting, drawing and illustration drawing. Research shows that students who participate in extracurricular arts programs volunteer more within their community, maintain higher grades across all subjects, and go to college in greater numbers compared to peers who did not attend extracurricular arts programs. By expanding our youths’ skills, knowledge, and confidence in an array of art forms and providing community platforms for them to showcase their talents, we believe that this partnership with Youth Impact will help our most disadvantaged youth achieve success at school, at home, and beyond.
About The Artists
ALI AKBARI
Ali is a filmmaker and educator from Iran who specializes in experimental cinema and new media. He received his dual degrees in Cinema Studies (B.A.) and Radio-TV Production (B.A.) from the University of Central Florida, where he made several experimental films along with producing content in both single-cam and multi-cam-studio environment, including United Colors of Orlando (2018), a short documentary about the Orlando community coming together through art following the 2016 Pulse tragedy, which went on to win the Grand Prize from 2018 Tribeca Campus Docs. He got his M.F.A. degree in Film and Media Arts from the University of Utah, during which he received the University Teaching Assistantship (UTA) award to create and teach the Experimental Media Production course in spring 2020. His current works explore reconciliation between his Iranian upbringing and queer identity.
EDEN BUXTON
Eden received her BFA from Weber State University in Photography and her MFA from the University of Utah in Film Media Arts. She believes adamantly in the accessibility of art, and has curated exhibitions on the streets, in a bus and elevators to expand the idea of art accessibility. Her passions include teaching, skiing, cinema, photography and, of course, her amazing wife Devi.
LESLIE HETLAND
Leslie is the 2D Visual Arts teacher at DaVinci Academy. She has taught Art Foundations, Drawing, Painting, and AP Art since Fall 2016.
Leslie grew up in Layton, Ut and now lives in Mountain Green. She graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2012. At WSU, Leslie majored in painting and drawing and minored in art history. After graduating, she worked as a framer in Ogden and as the Curator of Education at the Eccles Community Art Center. It was her experience with students through outreach programs at the ECAC that lead her to a teaching career.
KASEY LINDLEY
Kasey studied at the New York Studio Program, received her BFA from the Ringling College of Art & Design, and her MFA from the University of Connecticut. With over 6 years of teaching experience, Kasey has enthusiastically passed her love of the arts on to her students; encouraging curiosity, boundary pushing, and innovation. Kasey has taught youth art classes for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Donkey Mill Art Center, and Salt & Honey Prism Studio.
TODD ODERNDORFER
Todd is the Arts Outreach Manager & Advisor for WSU’s Department of Visual Art & Design. He is also an Adjunct Art Professor at WSU. Todd is the Program Director of Arts in the Parks, a summer outreach program that began in 2010 and offers opportunities for children and their families to explore visual and performing arts through hands-on activities.
Oberndorfer is a founding member of The Banyan Collective media company. He is host of the Nine Rails Arts Podcast and Co-host of Van Sessions at The Monarch (live audience podcast & music series) and the Ogden Outdoor Adventure Show. The Banyan Collective has produced Arts & Adventure podcasts since 2010. Todd Oberndorfer and R Brandon Long, founders of The Banyan Collective, were 2018 Recipients of the “Media Arts” Award at the Ogden City Mayor’s Awards in the Arts.
Oberndorfer is Chairperson of the Ogden City Arts Advisory Committee. As an Arts Advocate, he frequently collaborates as a Consultant with Ogden City Arts, Ogden Downtown Alliance, Ogden City Community & Economic Development, and Union Creative Agency. Todd is a Certified Change Leader with the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, a professional development leadership program. He was the recipient of the “Arts Advocacy” Award at the 2019 Ogden City Mayor’s Awards in the Arts.
Todd is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Arts Administration at Southern Utah University. He holds a BFA in 2D Design from Weber State University and combines social activism and art by addressing issues such as clean air and population growth in his printmaking and graphic design work.
About Youth Impact
Youth Impact fills the gap between school and home by providing free daily afterschool and summer youth development programs. Their programs combine enriching art, academic, health, and recreation courses helping vulnerable youth and their families reduce their risk factors (e.g. living below the poverty line, peer pressure for gang affiliation, exposure to domestic violence, poor access to healthcare and nutritious food, early exposure to drugs and alcohol), increase their physical and mental well-being – and ultimately, break the cycle of inter-generational poverty.
Are you interested in making the OCA Artist Factory program available to your youth organization? Reach out to venessa@ogdencontemporaryarts.org
