SMARTS Events
Seeds for the Future: Growing Our Own
Join us on November 21, 2023 from 5:30-7:30pm at the Basilica of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel as we celebrate all the things our students have accomplished. Throughout this evening, you will enjoy live student demonstrations, raffle baskets, 50/50, interactive arts activities, and a spaghetti dinner buffet.
June 30, 2023 @ SMARTS
JOIN US as we celebrate with art, music, & merriment to support SMARTS in honor of the legacy of our friend & past SMARTS Circle member, Joy White. Bid on your favorite works from local and regional artists, hear live music by JD Eicher with his band, watch a demonstration of contemporary portrait painting by Bobbie Fertig, & purchase art and swag from the SMARTS Store. This is an adult event, so be ready to enjoy light appetizers and a cash bar featuring a bourbon taste, wine and Modern Methods Brewing Company!
Join us for SMARTS Beats and Empowers Night on Thursday, March 23 at 5:30pm! This programming is for students with special needs, ages PK-21. Bring your family and experience arts education in a safe, accessible environment!
This raffle has ended as of February 1, 2023 at 6pm.
Congratulations to our winner, Dan Douglass!
Two (2) Floor Seat Taylor Swift Tickets for the Pittsburgh, PA show on June 16, 2023. Raffle tickets/chances to win the pair are $100 each. Face value per pair is $2,200. Winner will receive the pair of tickets through their Ticketmaster account. Tickets were donated to SMARTS through Larry Mohn III and Sarra Mohn specifically to be used to raise funds for future programming; both Mohn children have taken SMARTS classes. In the rare event that the concert is cancelled or dates are changed, SMARTS will not refund raffle ticket donation. If Ticketmaster offers refunds, winner will instead win face value of the pair (2) tickets; $2,200 total. Drawing will take place on January 31, 2023.
November 16, 2022 @ Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Please join us on November 16, 2022 from 5:30-7:30 pm at Our Lady of Mount Carmel for the annual SMARTS Family Dinner. It will be an evening of arts demonstrations, creativity, and fun! Help us to celebrate SMARTS history, recent growth, and our students, families, teachers and staff.
Ticket sales are now closed.
If you have any questions about tickets/attendance, please email Becky Keck at: bkeck@smartsartschool.org, or call 330-574-2787.
June 24, 2022 @ SMARTS
JOIN US as we celebrate with art, music, & merriment to support SMARTS in honor of the legacy of our friend & past SMARTS Circle member, Joy White. Bid on your favorite works from local & regional artists, hear live acoustic music by the Labra Brothers, watch a demonstration on the potter’s wheel by Elena Labra (SMARTS artist-in-residence), & purchase art & swag from the SMARTS Store. This is an adult event so be ready to enjoy light appetizers & a cash bar featuring a bourbon taste, wine, & Modern Methods Brewing Company!
November 18, 2021 @ 5:30 pm at Stambaugh Auditorium
Please join us on November 18, 2021 from 5:30-7 pm at Stambaugh Auditorium for the annual SMARTS Family Dinner. It will be an evening of arts demonstrations, creativity, and fun! Help us to celebrate SMARTS history, recent growth, and our students, families, teachers and staff.
Nov. 12, 2020 @ 5:30 p.m. via Zoom
Please join us for our free Virtual SMARTS Family Dinner. It will be out of this world with prizes, an art demonstration, and a performance by The Vindys.
Every registered guest will get the chance to win a SMARTS Swag basket filled with SMARTS apparel, art supplies, and stellar art creations.
Help us celebrate SMARTS’ growth and see our continued success through the COVID-19 pandemic as one united SMARTS Family - students, guardians, teachers, and staff.
SMARTS Holiday Open House
Wednesday, December 4, 2019 @ 12-7 pm
Stop in between 12-7 p.m. to enjoy light refreshments, hands-on holiday arts activities for children of all ages and arts demonstrations. You can check off your holiday gift list and support SMARTS programming by shopping in the SMARTS Store and through the purchase of our student designed holiday cards.
It's not a party if you aren't here!
Friday, October 25 @ 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm (VIP @ 5:30 pm)
Join us as we celebrate with art, music & merriment to support SMARTS. Bid on your favorite works from local & regional artists, enjoy live music from the SMARTS House Band, watch a live art demonstration from SMARTS Artist-in-Residence Eric Alleman, purchase art from the SMARTS store, and enjoy some food and libations!
For more information, click here: Art for SMARTS 2019.
Saturday, August 24 @ 11 am - 1 pm
Join us for a family fun event with hands-on arts activities for children of all ages as we kick off the 2019-2020 SMARTS school year! Learn what’s new and exciting at SMARTS as we announce our fall class offerings at the event.
Drum roll please – watch out for a new class for PK students, an adventurous piano class for grades K-2, lessons for new musical instruments, and amazing offerings in theater and creative writing.
For more information, click here: SMARTS Fall Kick Off 2019.
Summer Festival of the Arts
JULY 13 & 14, 2019 — AT AND AROUND YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY!
The 21st Annual Summer Festival of the Arts is a robust celebration of the performing and visual arts, prominently including a juried art show. Summer Festival of the Arts features the works of local, regional and national artists, this event welcomes over 80 artists yearly. Music, dance and theatrical performances throughout the festival grounds complement the art and attract a diverse and fun crowd.
Visit Summer Festival of the Arts to see more details about the festival.
The City of Youngstown Department of Parks and Recreation
June 17 - 19, 2019
SMARTS will be hosting The City of Youngstown Department of Parks and Recreation day camps! Click here to see the flyer and to learn more about their day camps!
Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 12 PM - 5 PM
Look for SMARTS @ Simply Slavic! Learn more about Simply Slavic here.
Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 5:30 PM - 7 PM
Autism Society of Mahoning Valley - May Community Outing. Visit their website for more information.
SMARTS Brings Storytelling for Adults to Modern Methods Brewery
Looking for a fun and educational way to be entertained this winter? Plan to attend SMARTS Stories a monthly, real life storytelling event hosted by Modern Methods Brewing Co., in Warren.
Becky Keck, President of SMARTS, Students Motivated by the Arts, is announcing this unique new adult program called “SMARTS Stories” to connect storytellers with live audiences. All the while enjoying a pint of locally brewed craft beer.
Emcee for the program will be W. Rick Schilling who holds a Master’s degree in performance studies from Southern Illinois University. “Almost everyone has a story to tell,” says Schilling, “…and ironically, adult storytelling events are growing in popularity at pubs around the country during a time when most people seem addicted to electronic devices for entertainment. SMARTS Stories will engage audience members and performers in one of the oldest, nearly lost art forms --oral storytelling.”
However, Schilling cautions that this is not the same as a stand-up comedy routine. All material performed must be from your own experience and without notes. No memorized scenes from plays or prose fiction permitted. Subject matter should not be intended to denigrate any group and performers should avoid profanity. All participants must be adults over the age of 18.
Modern Methods Brewery is located at 125 Dave Grohl Alley in Warren, Ohio. Doors will open at 7:00 PM for this private event which will take place on the second Wednesday of each month beginning on November 14. Admission is $10 at the door. Proceeds will benefit SMARTS, your Community Art School.
Names of willing performers will be drawn from a hat and storytellers will be limited to 5 minutes. The audience will help select a winner each month. Winners will be invited back to an encore performance in the spring.
Schilling encourages individuals from all walks of life to attend and to share in the fun. “Incredibly compelling stories are often derived from events that happen in the course of people’s everyday lives as parents, police officers, clergy, journalists, retail clerks, students, teachers and care givers.”
For more information about SMARTS Stories contact Laura Makara, SMARTS Staff Administrator, 330-574-2787, lmakara@smarts.tunahelper.net.
SMARTS community art school, located in Youngstown’s Ohio One Building, provides access and early training in the arts for our region's PK-12 youth with a focus on underserved populations. SMARTS engages public and private organizations, schools and artists in cooperative projects designed to enrich our community, promote student achievement, inspire self-discovery and impact cultural and academic literacy through fine and performing arts.
SMARTS, Ohio One, 25 E Boardman St, First Floor, Youngstown, OH 44503, www.SmartsArtSchool.org.
Youngstown Area Community Concert Band
Thursday, April 11, 2019 at 6 p.m.
YACCB will be performing an evening of music and learning for the SMARTS participants and their families on Thursday, April 11th at 6:00 pm at their at their downtown Youngstown location in the Ohio One Building at 25 East Boardman Street.
As adult musicians we know first-hand the benefits of playing musical instruments especially with a group of other musicians. Research indicates the brain of a musician, even a young one, works differently than that of a non-musician. “There’s some good neuroscience research that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training. When you’re a musician and you’re playing an instrument, you have to be using more of your brain,” says Dr. Eric Rasmussen, chair of the Early Childhood Music Department at the Peabody Preparatory of The Johns Hopkins University, where he teaches a specialized music curriculum for children aged two months to nine years.
YACCB is pleased that children are encouraged to learn to perform and develop a skill that can last throughout their lifetime.
Following a short family-friendly concert, we will introduce the audience to the different instruments in the band. Each child and their family members will then select an instrument that they wish to learn more about, such as percussion, flutes, or trumpets. This sectional time will be an opportunity for the children to learn more and to have a hands-on look at their instrument of choice. Our goal is to spark interest in instrumental music education.
“SMARTS is a community-based art school, helping to bridge the gap during and after school with arts curriculum that is unmatched in the region - a place where culture, design, and self-discovery are uniquely intertwined.”
Youngstown Area Community Concert Band, referred to as YACCB, was founded in 1983 and began performing in 1984. YACCB maintains a year-round schedule of concerts and rehearsals and is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose total support is through donations. For more information please visit https://www.yaccb.org/home.html
Spring 2019 Opening Night
We’re excited to kick off Spring 2019 classes with our Spring 2019 Opening Night next Wednesday, January 16 from 4:30-6:30 pm.
We’ll have light refreshments from 4:30-5:00 pm, and then a New Family Orientation will follow from 5:00-5:30. There is important information you need to know about taking classes here at SMARTS. We’ll go over all the essentials so that your children can have the best experience possible! If you came to the Fall 2018 Family Night, you’re welcome to attend the orientation again, but it is not necessary.
Following the orientation, we have a special treat. We’re excited to share that a local artist will perform an original piano presentation for SMARTS families, and will be the perfect boost for creativity in 2019! Kofi Boakye, a high school student in Akron, is a musician, public speaker, entrepreneur and soon to be a student at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. His story is inspiring and will resonate with SMARTS students, families and friends. He is the 2014 White House Excellence Award© Recipient and 2018 NAACP ACT-SO National Medalist. Read more about Kofi, here: http://kofibmusic.com/about/
Best of all? This event is free!
Holiday Open House
Tuesday, December 11 from 12-6:30 p.m.
JOIN US for a family friendly celebration of the holidays!
WHEN: Tuesday December 11 @ 12-6:30 p.m.
Stop in between 12-6:30 p.m. to enjoy light refreshments, hands-on holiday arts activities for children of all ages and arts demonstrations. You can shop for your holiday gifts and support SMARTS programming by shopping in the SMARTS store and through the purchase of our student designed holiday cards.
It’s not a party if you aren’t here!
Art for SMARTS 2018
Friday, September 28 from 5:30-10 p.m.
We are grateful to all who donated, sponsored, volunteered, attended, bought art, and helped in any way with Art For SMARTS. It was an art-filled night full of creativity and fun. With your help, we exceeded our goal as we made $20,117! Thanks you for helping us achieve our goal - our community continues to amaze us! THANK YOU!
