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Arts/Community: Facts

Rutherford County offers a wide variety of arts and community experiential and educational programs for children and young people. A sampling includes:

• State Farm’s Summer Business Camp, produced by the Business Education Partnership Foundation at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. This annual two-week day camp in July exposes middle school students to the basics of the business world. Students form business teams, write a business plan, form a marketing strategy and create a Power Point presentation of their work for a final competition. Openings are limited to forty students each year. State Farm Summer Business Camp is sponsored by State Farm and Destination Rutherford and is tuition-free.
• Lamplighter’s Theatre in Smyrna, TN, produces a variety of plays annually. Lamplighter’s Theatre Company has opportunities for talented actors, singers, dancers, set designers, set builders, stage and light crews, sound crews and house staff. Auditions are open to all. People from throughout the community are welcome to come and learn and help us learn.
• Murfreesboro’s Center for the Arts classes and camps for the community include youth drawing classes, an art appreciation workshop, youth theater classes, and more. Class offerings include spring break camps, painting classes, classes in acting, singing and dancing for beginning students of all ages, cartoon drawing classes where students will create their own comic book.
• Center Stage Academy at Murfreesboro’s Center for the Arts where students will learn a variety of stage crafts including: stage movement, choreography, voice, costume, make-up, lighting, set design and more! Students will create their own characters and as a group create a play to perform at the end of each session. Students will also participate in theater activities and games. There will be two Junior sessions for ages 6-12 and one Senior session for ages 13-18.
• Writing and arts workshops through the Express Yourself Café, a cooperative arts initiative for Rutherford County high school students led by local literacy organization Read to Succeed, the Youth Culture and Arts Center (YCAC), Artsy Mommas, the Business Education Partnership (BEP), Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation, the Linebaugh Public Library, General Mills Foundation, Barnes and Noble, and other partners. EYC programs provide writing and arts workshops for teens which are led by local professional artisans and that include mentoring sessions on students works and encourages group discussions. Students learn about developing their own artistic talents, critiquing and editing one another’s work, as well as about careers.
• Rutherford County Visual Arts Guild offers a Budding Artists program and Art Camps for young people ages 10 to 15 and a Tour of the Arts “Art ‘Round the World” including a Treasure Hunt at the Friendship Circle in Spindale for young explorers 6 to 10 years old. One day each on painting, pottery, weaving, and mosaics. Plus an exhibit of work for friends and family. Class size limited.
• Thomas Jefferson Classical Grammar School-CFA & RCVAG presents Visiting Artist Pilot Program, where accomplished artists spend half-days with children ages 8 to 12 providing real-world and personal inspiration and teaching.
• Youth Leadership Rutherford produced by the Business Education Partnership Foundation at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, is a year-long leadership development program for rising high school juniors and seniors, providing civic education and engagement learning and experience. Youth Leadership Rutherford consists of an overnight weekend (Fri-Sat.) orientation program in September, seven seminar days from October- April and graduation in May. Each day focuses on a major area of community concern and explores issues of leadership within the context of that subject. The goal of each day is to open the minds of participants to the a variety of viewpoints and enable young people to become more visionary leaders.
• Job Shadow Day produced by the BEP as part of the state’s Education Edge program, each year in February Ground Hog Day is set aside for high school seniors to spend a day exploring a business or career of interest.
• BookLIT (Learning & Investigating Together) is a project of the BEP and MTSU’s Service Learning curriculum, BookLIT is a month-long program led each semester by MTSU faculty and students in Murfreesboro City and Rutherford County schools. The goal of BookLIT is to encourage literacy in students and their parents through reading, discussion and performing book-related crafts and activities. The program is funded by the Middle Tennessee Electric Customers Care Foundation and other local businesses.
• Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation offers a variety of workshops, classes and camps for children and young people, including theatre, crafts, art, athletics and many others. Examples include: herb gardening, making a kaleidoscope, kite-making, scrap-booking, soccer, football, cheerleading, heritage, reptile, tennis, nature.
• Smyrna Parks and Recreation offers a variety of programs for children and young people, including youth football, basketball, soccer, girls’ softball and many others.
• La Vergne Parks and Recreation offers a variety of programs for children and young people, including in-line hockey, cheerleading, football, baseball, softball, basketball, baton, clogging and many others.