More than 1,500 excited community members joined the Orange County School of the Arts Foundation for its first-ever OCSA Connects Community Arts Festival this past Saturday.
In partnership with Revive Santa Ana, the Max H. Gluck Foundation and many others, the festival offered children ages 5-11 a fun day of play and arts exploration through a variety of activities, play areas, games and live entertainment.
“The festival was immensely inspiring and I am so proud of the collective work that our teaching artists, staff, students and volunteers put into this event. We are so grateful to our partners and sponsors, and to all of the awesome OC families who spent their Saturday with us! I can’t wait to start planning for next year,” said Brian Stevens, OCSA’s director of community engagement.
Kids moved from room to room to learn how to dance like OCSA’s Ballet Folklorico students, how movie magic is made through green screens and technology, how gardening can also be art and so much more.
Children of all abilities were able to benefit from the festival with accommodations like the festival’s Quiet Room developed in partnership with the Long Beach Hero Squad and a sensory friendly hour before the start of the event.
Between arts activities, attendees watched performances by OCSA dancers, vocalists and musicians, as well as performers from El Sol Academy, Relampago Del Cielo, and the Dragon Kim Foundation Music Program.
The OCSA Connects Community Arts Festival was made possible with the help of the events’ community partners, Thompson Autism and Neurodevelopment Center at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC); Dragon Kim Foundation; El Sol Academy, Santa Ana Public Library; Girl Scouts of Orange County; Pretend City; LBC Hero Squad and Exceptional Day of Play. The OCSA Foundation is grateful to event sponsors, Revive Santa Ana; Max H. Gluck Foundation; 4th Street Market; Alta Baja Market; Block Family Foundation; Brown Colonial Mortuary; CJ Segerstrom & Sons; Culligan Water; Farmers & Merchants Bank; Orange County Community Foundation; Orange County Music & Dance; Rockwell’s Bakery-Ben’s Asphalt; Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce; Seven Gables Realtors-Sandy deAngelis; South Coast Plaza; Umberg Zipser and University of California, Irvine. OCSA is also thankful to its season sponsors, Pendry Newport Beach, Farmers & Merchants Bank, and Boot Barn.
Photos by Sarah Naccarato