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Wesleyan Artist Market 2024: Students Bree Hill and Esther Cooper

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The Wesleyan Artist Market takes place in Peachtree Corners on April 26-27, 2024

Join us as we dive into the creative worlds of Esther Cooper and Bree Hill, two young student artists showing at this year’s Wesleyan Artist Market with their unique talents and passions. From Esther’s tasty cake pops to Bree’s emotionally charged artwork, we explore the stories behind their inspiration, dedication, and drive to showcase their creativity. Listen in as we discuss the power of self-expression and passion in the world of art and baking. Tune in for a dose of inspiration and creativity that will leave you eager to explore your own artistic talents and passions. Hosted by Rico Figliolini

Resources:
Wesleyan Artists’ Market Website: https://www.artistmarket.wesleyanschool.org/
Bree’s Instagram: @bubblycreationsbybreehill

Timestamp:
00:00:00 – Introduction
00:01:37 – Expanding Artistic Horizons at Wesleyan Market
00:03:38 – Discovering Passion and Mediums in Art Creation
00:05:13 – Expressing Emotions Through Art and Beyond
00:10:53 – Preparing for the Artist Market at Wesleyan
00:13:24 – Finding Inspiration Through Music and Fantasy Books
00:16:01 – Dreams of Opening a Family-Friendly Bakery
00:17:42 – Interviewing a Creative Baker and Graphic Designer
00:19:43 – The Art of Evolving a Painting
00:21:45 – Baking Creations for Holidays and Parties
00:24:08 – Bree’s Artistic Process and Finding Joy in Sculptures
00:26:37 – Art Commissions and Wesleyan Artist Market Update
00:28:20 – Closing Thoughts

Podcast Transcript

Transcript:

Rico Figliolini 0:00:01

Hi everyone. This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life here in the city of Peachtree Corners, Gwinnett County. I have a couple of great guests with me today. They are student artists at the upcoming Wesleyan Artist Market. But before I introduce them quickly, let me just say thank you to EV Remodeling, Inc. Who is a sponsor of not only this podcast, but the publications that we do, including Peachtree Corners magazine and Southwest Gwinnett magazine. So I want to thank them for being a strong sponsor, a community member as well. And if you want to find out more about EV remodeling Inc. Just go to their website, which is easy, evremodelinginc.com. So thank you for that. Our guest today is on the left. Depending on how you’re viewing this, Esther Cooper from 7th grade. Say hi, Esther.

Esther Cooper 0:00:48

Hi.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:49

And Bree Hill from 10th grade. Hey Bree.

Bree Hill 0:00:52

Hey.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:53

Both from Wesleyan school. And for one, she’s going to be at the Wesleyan Artist Market the second time, I believe. And for another, this is her first time. So let’s start with Esther Cooper, who’s interested in culinary arts. So, Esther, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Esther Cooper 0:01:13

Well, like you said, my name is Esther and I really enjoy baking and I’m going to be selling probably mostly cake pops at the artist market. So I’ve been working on kind of perfecting that technique for a while, so I think they’ll be pretty good.

Rico Figliolini 0:01:30

Cool. Bree Hill, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Bree Hill 0:01:35

My name is Bree Hill. This is my second year in the Wesleyan Artist Market. I have experience in different things with watercolor, acrylic paint, oil paint, and even mixed media and pottery. I’ve done animals in different subjects.

Rico Figliolini 0:01:53

Excellent. So last year, if I remember correctly from what I’ve read, you participated and submitted ceramic and clay sculptures last year.

Bree Hill 0:02:01

Yes.

Rico Figliolini 0:02:02

Cool. And this year you’re going to do something a bit different, right? Using different medium. You want to tell us a little bit about why you chose that medium to introduce this year?

Bree Hill 0:02:12

So I did a little bit of acrylic paint last year. I was more focusing on ceramics because I did different animals like elephants and dogs, swans, that sort. But I have the most experience at acrylic paint and I wanted to expand the things that I did. Like I’ve done graphite self portraits so far. I will use acrylic with cars, flower bouquets. I wanted to show people something that I’ve been doing for a long time.

Rico Figliolini 0:02:47

Okay, cool. Artists can do whatever they please as long as it inspires right, Esther, let’s talk a little bit about what you’re doing. The type of art themes that inspire you best, what inspires you. What do you look at when you’re thinking of culinary arts and deciding what to make or bake?

Esther Cooper 0:03:06

Well, I would say that I’m not going to lie. I actually do draw a little bit of inspiration from baking shows. That’s actually how I kind of got started with baking. Like, I saw these baking shows and I was like, wait, this is so cool. So I kind of picked up baking. So I get inspired by that. I get inspired by Pinterest.

Rico Figliolini 0:03:29

So you’re on Pinterest also building a board.

Esther Cooper 0:03:32

Not really building a board.

Rico Figliolini 0:03:34

I just scrolling through.

Esther Cooper 0:03:36

Yeah.

Rico Figliolini 0:03:38

All right, that’s fine. You have to discover your passion and your inspiration in a lot of different places. Right. When you’re creating your treats, your sweets, is there particular ingredient, favorite ingredients you have that you like.

Esther Cooper 0:03:59

I mean. Can’t go wrong with?

Rico Figliolini 0:04:00

No, no. Can’t go wrong there. Probably sugar too, I would imagine, but, yeah, for sure. All right, cool. Bree on yours, shifting from sculpture to painting, obviously you’ve used different mediums along the way. How do you explore what you want to do in oil painting or watercolors? Do you decide what medium you want? Depending on what inspires you, depending on the picture you’re doing, how does that work?

Bree Hill 0:04:27

It depends on what I’m painting. So normally, if it’s like a plant nature of some sort, I will use watercolor for different depths because I like layering. If it’s normally a person, I would either use pencil or acrylic paint and more. If it can turn into three d, I would effectively use clay.

Rico Figliolini 0:04:51

Got you. There was a part where I think you mentioned about expressing yourself without judgment. You mentioned that to be able to share time, creating art helps to communicate something that you feel or that you want to express that can’t be expressed in words. Is that something that you continue to strive to? How do you see yourself doing that?

Bree Hill 0:05:16

I have a really hard time explaining and reiterating myself in different ways, so I chose to do it through art. I like to choose an emotion and draw what I think that emotion would look like, what that person would look like in that emotion, or in that moment.

Rico Figliolini 0:05:35

All right, well, let me bring up one of your pieces. Actually, bear with me a second. We pop that out. Put that there. That’s one of your pieces, I believe, right? Yes. So when you drew that, when that came to you, when you inspired to do that, what are you trying to.

Bree Hill 0:05:55

Share here I was trying to show I chose a pretty complicated emotion because I feel like not a lot of people can put it into words. And this one was grief, where it’s slowly, each day, you wake up thinking about it, and you’re slowly getting tired. You’re getting exhausted of it. So she’s kind of laying there limp almost. And you always have a friend. You reach out to something, vent happens. So those are birds representing each thing. It’s not a finished artwork, but definitely in the middle of it.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:30

Gotcha. Okay, cool. Come back here now. So it mean. And that was the medium used. It was pencil.

Bree Hill 0:06:40

Yes, sir.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:43

Esther, we’ll come back to you for a little bit. When you’re doing desserts, baking, you’re in the kitchen, I’m assuming, right. And you’re doing your stuff, I’m assuming. You start almost off with the recipe. Right. But do you ever deviate from that recipe? Do you ever do something a little different, add a little bit more, a little less? What do you do?

Esther Cooper 0:07:06

Well, sometimes I do eyeball things. Not too much, because baking is kind of a science, but I think it’s definitely decorating, where I get very spontaneous, like, I’ll pull out all the sprinkles or the different ways to decorate a cake up.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:29

All right, that’s cool. And you were saying you find inspiration from tv shows in Pinterest. I’m assuming that life, any artist, when you go to a place that exhibits art or, like, a bakery, do you find things that, as you’re looking through, do you find inspiration there? Do you even buy the stuff to taste it and see how it came out and what you can do with that?

Esther Cooper 0:07:54

Much to my parents dismay, yes. They take me to a bakery, and I’m like, mom, I got to learn how to make that.

Rico Figliolini 0:08:05

That’s funny. True. Sweet tooth could do it, I guess. So when you’re finding, I guess, in your art is one thing, I guess, when you know the artist, maybe. But also, are there any particular bakers that you’re aware of or tv or personalities that you like?

Esther Cooper 0:08:25

There’s this guy named Jacques Torres who’s on this show called nailed it. I don’t think. I always thought he was pretty cool. He was always very good. Had a very good expertise in his field, which I think is pretty cool.

Rico Figliolini 0:08:42

It’s good to have someone to look up to, to emulate a little bit. Bree, on your everyday life, walking through school, walking home, or however, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. I don’t know. Do you do other things besides art. Like, are you into sports?

Bree Hill 0:09:04

I am a volleyball player.

Rico Figliolini 0:09:06

You’re what? Softball?

Bree Hill 0:09:08

A volleyball player.

Rico Figliolini 0:09:09

Oh, volleyball player. Okay, cool. So are you on the team then, or is this intramurals?

Bree Hill 0:09:15

This is year round volleyball, so it’s club.

Rico Figliolini 0:09:18

Oh, club volleyball. Okay. So when you’re out there and doing athletic work, do you find inspiration in what you’re doing there? Do you look at people and look at them as inspiration for maybe the next drawing or the next scene that you life?

Bree Hill 0:09:36

Definitely. And not just volleyball as well? If I travel anywhere, I will always have, like, a mini pocket watercolor to draw whatever scenes in front of me to kind of capture the moment, because I feel like it represents everything better than a picture because it’s how you saw the moment. It’s like how you read what was happening rather than it just being, oh, here’s a picture of what I saw.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:01

Right. The way you feel, I guess. So. I’m imagining you’re carrying a book and some watercolors with you.

Bree Hill 0:10:10

Definitely.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:11

Okay, so no digital stuff for you, or do you use an iPad too sometimes or one of those.

Bree Hill 0:10:19

Not really an iPad. No.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:21

Okay, so you’re not into Photoshop or using brushes on any of that procreate or anything?

Bree Hill 0:10:28

So I take my own pictures for my artwork. So the one you just showed up is actually a picture of me. I photographed it, and then I had to Photoshop some things with lighting and stuff. Then I drew it.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:41

Oh, wow. Excellent.

Bree Hill 0:10:44

It’s a long process.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:48

No, that’s good. You got to start somewhere, and using yourself as a subject is even better. You know what to do with yourself, right? That’s cool. So have you put together all your artwork yet for wham. For this year, or are you still working on stuff?

Bree Hill 0:11:06

Definitely still working. I have my inventory log done, and I have all the materials for it. But actually doing it is where it’s kind of a slow process, but definitely more than half are completed.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:19

All right, cool. Now, a little different for Esther, I bet, because it’s not like you can work on yours in advance unless you’re going to freeze it. So what’s the game plan for you? Are you going to be doing well.

Esther Cooper 0:11:32

We were talking about taking discretionary day, the day before the artist market, so I could just bake.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:39

I don’t wait. Discretionary days are those days you’re allowed to take off?

Esther Cooper 0:11:45

Yes, sir. You only get. Is it two, Bree?

Bree Hill 0:11:49

It’s two.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:51

You are invested in your art. I can tell. Putting those days off into that, that’s good. So you’re going to be working away in the kitchen, I’m assuming, getting things ready?

Esther Cooper 0:12:04

Yes, sir.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:05

All right, cool. What other interests do you have? I obviously, Bree does volleyball and sports. What interests do you have?

Esther Cooper 0:12:17

I played trumpet. I was in the Wesleyan marching band this fall. I participated in basketball this winter, and I have in the past participated in musicals, and I plan to try out again next year. It’s just this year, I want to do the artist market this year.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:38

Okay. All right, cool. Interesting. The Wesleyan student always is multifaceted, that’s for sure. So many different things are going on. I think I interviewed someone that had. She was doing club sport, school sport, and she had other things going on. It’s just like, I don’t even know how many hours in the day you have to do that. So when you’re finding inspiration, is there a special place or music you like to listen to? Other one can go.

Esther Cooper 0:13:07

Well, I just like to walk around my backyard a lot. It’s a fairly big backyard. I just walk around and kind of think about all sorts of things. But I definitely draw a lot of inspiration because it has kind of a forest area, so there’s a lot around me and a lot to draw inspiration from.

Rico Figliolini 0:13:30

So you’re not listening to anything. You’re just listening to nature and just walking around the backyard like that. Now, Bree, you’re laughing, but what about you? Where do you draw your inspiration from music, or where do you do that?

Bree Hill 0:13:44

So I actually have over 40 playlists of different emotions and things, and they all have, like, a description of a scenario or something. I’m an avid reader of fantasy, so I’m quite literally always thinking of something new and something that isn’t really realistic.

Rico Figliolini 0:14:06

Okay. No, I’m not surprised then. Okay. When you were talking about emotion and drawing that out, that almost makes sense. That segues a little bit into one of my other questions. So you like to read? Sounds like fantasy novels. YA novels, I’m assuming. Do you have a few favorites that you would recommend?

Bree Hill 0:14:26

Probably the caraval series and the Lunar Chronicles are most likely my and angel fall. Those are my three favorite series in fantasy.

Rico Figliolini 0:14:39

Ya and playlists. Any particular artists on them that you’d like to share?

Bree Hill 0:14:46

Beyonce. I have, like, 30. I mainly listen to r and B. We’ll keep that as flat ground because artists.

Rico Figliolini 0:15:02

That’s cool. Okay, Esther, what about you? Are there any books or types of books or titles that you like that you would share?

Esther Cooper 0:15:12

I also do love to read. I’m kind of basic in some of my favorites. Like, I love the Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson series, but there’s this really good book that I read in this kind of group, and it was called Echo. So if any of y’all are looking for book suggestions, I would really recommend it because it’s very good. But it’s probably one of my favorite books.

Rico Figliolini 0:15:35

Actually. The Harry Potter. Have you heard that Warner Brothers is actually going to do a tv series now of the Harry Potter books, redoing the books into a tv? They are, yeah, ten episodes per book. It’s going to take them forever to get this done, but, yeah, they’re coming back. And JK Rowling is apparently all for it. I just heard that the other day. My kids grew up on it. I used to read it to them when they were younger until they got old enough to read it, because that’s how long, right. But, yeah, it’s a cool books. So what about playlists, then, Esther? What do you like listening to?

Esther Cooper 0:16:14

I like to listen to classical music a lot, but I really listen to pretty much all genres.

Rico Figliolini 0:16:21

Okay. That’s good. Eclectic. It’s good to be able to listen to different songs and different music. As far as we talked about inspiration a little bit and stuff. But let’s talk a little bit about. Let’s go back to Esther. I know that one of your dreams, apparently, is to have your own bakery. You’re still a young person, so who knows what may happen and transpire over time. But when you think of your dream bakery, what would you want in that dream bakery?

Bree Hill 0:16:54

Baked goods, probably. I don’t know. I’ve always really loved children, like, really young children. So I’d want it to be a place where parents could come with their young children and just kind of have a good time. Kind of be like a cozy little spot. I don’t know, like a family friendly place.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:19

Definitely. No, I can say that, yeah, that sounds good. When you travel, you’re in 7th grade, but have you gone anywhere to other cities that you may have stopped at a bakery or that might have inspired you in some way like that?

Esther Cooper 0:17:38

I do live by some very good bakeries. There’s some nearby. They can get very creative, which is something that obviously is very necessary for this sort of thing.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:55

Did you ever think of maybe seeing if you could get part time job working? I’m not necessarily, like, at a chocolatier or anything like that, but, yeah, that could be something you could do, I guess it’s funny because are you familiar with Peterbrook chocolatier?

Esther Cooper 0:18:12

Yes.

Rico Figliolini 0:18:12

In the Forum okay. Yes. Jeff, who manages the place, is very interesting person. He has summer camps usually, but he also hires high school kids to work for him when they want to work, I guess. And they’ll do anything in chocolate. It’s just totally amazing. And the things they come up with, I don’t even know how they do them. Bree on to you when you’re doing your artwork.

Bree Hill 0:18:38

I do layouts. I do magazine layouts. I do graphic design work like that. I’m not an illustrator or artist by far, but I do layouts and stuff. And sometimes when I get into something, I almost feel like I’m doing clay. I start with clay, and I’m molding it into a shape. And that 72 page magazine is getting molded right on the screen as I’m putting it together without a mockup, almost, which is not the way you should do these things, but this is the way I do it.

Rico Figliolini 0:19:14

Right. Do you find yourself doing things and you’re like, that’s not the way I should be doing it, but let me try it anyway. Let me see how it works.

Bree Hill 0:19:23

Definitely. This is where the phrase abstract and mixed media come into play, where you really don’t. You’ll start out with the plan. You’ll never stick with the plan. I rarely ever stick with the plan unless it’s a self portrait. The painting that you actually pulled up was not supposed to have birds. I was not supposed to be floating. There were not supposed to be ropes. But it felt whenever you feel like it needs something or you want something else into it, obviously you add it, but then it’s kind of like a domino effect, then you’ll want something else to go with that, and it kind of just keeps going.

Rico Figliolini 0:20:00

Right. All right, so let me throw this one up here. Hold on a second. That’s another one you did?

Bree Hill 0:20:09

Yes.

Rico Figliolini 0:20:09

You want to describe that a little bit to us?

Bree Hill 0:20:13

I think of this, like, as you’re in a sunroom, you’re kind of calm laying down flat on your back. Or even if you were like, if it was like a meadow and you were just laying on your back in the grass, tall grass with little dandelions around you, and the sun just reflects so many different shadows. And I like to not always do black and white. I really do like different colors in everything. I do, actually, most of my pieces, probably. You’ll find every single color in it, besides pencil, obviously, but I definitely felt this one as, like, a serene moment.

Rico Figliolini 0:20:54

It looks very serene. Let’s go with. There’s a couple of pictures I want to bring up of Esther’s. Try this one. Actually, let’s do both of these. I’m going to bring up three of them to tell us a little bit about these. What are they? And tell us what you want to show with that.

Esther Cooper 0:21:23

Well, I think the one with the m and Ms on it, that one was for. We were having a Christmas party for my basketball team, and I signed up to bring dessert, and I don’t know, I saw it on Pinterest or somewhere, and it kind of just looked like. It kind of looks like a barrel full of eminem. And I just thought that was a really fun concept. It was very fun.

Rico Figliolini 0:21:51

And those are kit kats on the outside, I guess.

Esther Cooper 0:21:54

Yes, sir. But another thing that you don’t see inside is that when you cut into the cake, it’s a red, green, and white in, like, a checkerboard pattern. So that was very fun.

Rico Figliolini 0:22:06

Cool. Yeah, that was complicated. I’m sure it’s set up like that. Right? What about the chocolate pops? If I’m looking at that correctly.

Esther Cooper 0:22:17

I made a fatal mistake when I started baking, and I told all my friends that I started baking, so they were all like, please bring in cake pops. So it feels like every other weekend I’m making cake pops to bring in for my friends. I think this one was probably, I made cake pops for my math class. I think this is probably those cake pops. I don’t remember.

Rico Figliolini 0:22:41

And this one.

Esther Cooper 0:22:43

That one, that one’s not looking so great. But I really liked the design. It was actually a cake I saw in a cookbook.

Rico Figliolini 0:22:53

Okay. You got a little patriotic, I think, on this one.

Esther Cooper 0:22:58

Oh, that one was really fun. That one was for 4th of July. You can’t tell. It was a s’mores dip. So there was Hershey’s chocolate bars under there. And then you would take graham cracker crackers and dip it in, and it was pretty good.

Rico Figliolini 0:23:16

That’s cool. That’s what you want. You want to be able to get creative and get it going like that. There’s definitely a lot of butter in that, I bet. Let’s go to brie. And we want to. This behaves. That’s the sculpture you did, I think, Bree, right?

Bree Hill 0:23:39

Yes.

Rico Figliolini 0:23:40

And tell me a little bit about the sculptures.

Bree Hill 0:23:46

So these are polar bears. The animals that I did, I was actually experimenting with different glazes. So the dogs that I did were almost oreo. They were light brown, dark brown, cream, and white all swirled into each other. And this one, I wanted to try different textures. And this is actually a different type of clay that leaves a really hoarse. It’s a gritty clay, a different texture, and it has little black dots in it. And it reminded me of a polar bear. And so this was one of the ones that I made with smooth fun.

Rico Figliolini 0:24:27

Cool. Was this at the Wesleyan artist market as well at some point or not?

Bree Hill 0:24:31

Yes. I did this with my elephant, swans and dogs. I had did my elephant, which actually took around a week and a half because I drew every individual aged line in the nose, the legs, the body.

Rico Figliolini 0:24:54

So let me ask you something. When something like that sells and goes off with someone, do you, like, cry a little bit? Is that like my baby’s left?

Bree Hill 0:25:08

I like to think more on the positive side. Like, someone else gets to experience my art. If someone else came into their house or wherever it’s being placed, it gives someone else another emotion, which is kind of life. The sense of spreading whatever I was doing in that moment. And I was actually having fun creating different animals. And I was really happy that someone liked it enough to one buy it, but also have in their home to show it.

Rico Figliolini 0:25:39

Sure. Sure. That makes sense. Esther has a different way of people enjoying hers than literally eat it and it disappears. So how do you feel about that? One stays a while and one is a momentary delight. Yeah, that must be. If I skipped anything. Is there anything, Bree, that you would like to share that we didn’t cover or that your experience that you’d like to share?

Bree Hill 0:26:18

I started something new this year. I do commissions in every medium, so I could also do animals. I’m doing self portraits of any picture. You would just send me a picture via email or phone. I would draw it or paint it. And that’s something new that I’m offering this year at the Wesleyan artist market.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:39

Wow. Okay. Very good. And, Esther, what about you? Anything that I’ve not touched upon that you’d like to share?

Esther Cooper 0:26:48

Not really.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:50

Okay, that’s fine. It’s all good. We have been speaking to Esther and Bree. From all you’ve been through the programs, I’m assuming, like, Bree, you’ve been through some of the art programs and stuff. And Esther, you’ve been through. Does Wesleyan have bakery, baking, cooking, any classes? Like. No. Right. It’s all academic. Academic and sports and science, of course. Cool. So if people want to follow you on social media to watch you, to see your work, or would they visit, is there anything you want to share that way? I don’t know if yours are private accounts or if you have an Instagram that’s open to the public.

Bree Hill 0:27:38

I have an Instagram. It’s called Bubbly Creations by Bree Hill. And obviously I’ll be at the Wesleyan artist market. Those are ways you could reach me.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:51

Cool. Esther, anything on your end other than being at the artist market?

Esther Cooper 0:27:55

No.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:59

Well, I’m having a great time talking to you, learning a little bit about your art and your passions. It’s always good to go through this. Every year we do this with a set of students just before the Wesleyan artist market. So it’s always fun to see different kids, different grades, doing different mediums and how they approach things. So I want to say thank you for sharing with us.

Bree Hill 0:28:22

Thank you for having us.

Rico Figliolini 0:28:24

Sure.

Esther Cooper 0:28:24

Thank you.

Rico Figliolini 0:28:25

Thank you. So hang in there for a minute. I’m just going to sign off. Say thank you again to EV Remodeling, Inc. For being a sponsor of this program, along with other things that we do. You can check them out at evremodellinginc.com. They’re based here, Peachtree Corners. Great family. Eli is a great guy. Check them out. They do great work. So feel free and also check us out at livinginpeachtreecorners.com. And our magazine, the upcoming issue of April, May, will have coverage of three Wesleyan artists, adult artists that will be at the show. And you can find out more information from us there. And certainly you can search the Wesleyan artist market and find out about all the great artists that will be there in April. So thanks again. Appreciate it.

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Arts & Literature

Experience Shakespeare in the Park with Contemporary Classics’ Twelfth Night

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Promotional graphic for an outdoor production of Twelfth Night to be held at three venues in north metro Atlanta

Contemporary Classics Theatre will present Twelfth Night, a free “Shakespeare in the Park” experience at three beautiful outdoor venues in north metro Atlanta

Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy of mistaken identity, will play at three beautiful outdoor venues in north metro Atlanta from April 26 to May 11.

Directed by Cait Cortelyou, known for her award-winning feature film “Ask for Jane,” Twelfth Night is a rollicking ensemble comedy explores unrequited love, misperceptions and the instability of gender.

Set in the coastal town of Illyria, young Viola survives a shipwreck and finds herself alone, believing that her twin brother died at sea. Disguising herself as a man, she finds work with the Duke Orsino, quickly falling in love with him. Orsino, however, is in love with the Countess Olivia… and Olivia quickly falls for Viola.

Meanwhile, Olivia’s steward Malvolia has bullied the household for the last time — and the staff is out for vengeance.

Three actors in a scene from Twelfth Night. A white, curly haired person on the left, a young Black woman in the middle with her hand on the face of the brown-haired transgender actor on the right.
L-R: Carl Fisk, Danielle Montgomery and Elliott Posadni. Photo by Noel Nichols.

This timeless production of Twelfth Night features Allen Cox, Carl Fisk, Ryan Hutchins, Shem Louis, Susanna Lyne, Steven Medina, Matt Metzger, Danielle Montgomery, Macros Nora, TJ Sanson and Elliott Posadni as one of the first transgender actors to play Viola.

It also features costumes by artist Jordan Hermitt and production design by Sage Kim Gray.

Locations, dates and showtimes

The Plaza at The Forum Peachtree Corners • April 26–27 at 3 p.m.

Audience seating and a special musical performance will start at 2:30 p.m. Please note that seating is limited; arrive early and/or bring lawn chairs or blankets. Food and drink are available for purchase at the venue.

Town Center on Main, Suwanee • May 3– 4 at 5 p.m.

Audience seating and a special musical performance will start at 4:30 p.m. Please note that no seating is provided; bring lawn chairs and blankets. Coolers are welcome (no alcohol). Food trucks will be onsite at the venue.

Autrey Mill Nature Center, Johns Creek • May 10 at 2pm & 5 p.m.; May 11 at 2 p.m.

Audience seating and a special musical performance will start at 1:30 p.m. on both days and at 4:30 p.m. for the evening show on May 10. Limited bench seating only. In case of inclement weather, the show will move from the amphitheatre to the open-air Pole Barn nearby.

Admission to the shows is FREE. Register online for tickets.

About Contemporary Classics

Contemporary Classics exists to challenge and transform classic Western theater traditions by creating an inclusive community of diverse people, ideas and cultures. They believe that classic work is made even greater when performed by a larger variety of artists — especially those who have been marginalized by Wester theatre traditions — including women and people of color.

With no permanent home, the theatre company partners with places such as public parks for performance spaces. This “homeless” state is one of the reasons they call ourselves “a crew of patches”— they travel from “patch” to “patch” with their shows.

The name also comes from a line in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and reflects the “motley” coat of a Shakespearean clown (or fool), created by sewing patches of old or discarded clothing together in a mishmash of textures and colors, like a patchwork quilt.

Fools, or “Patches,” transcend societal norms by being simultaneously a part of society and outside of it, giving them the ability to examine and comment on it.

For more information, visit crewofpatches.org.

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Arts & Literature

From Food Creations to Handmade Jewelry: Wesleyan Kids Prep for Artist Market 2025 [Podcast]

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In this episode of Peachtree Corners Life, host Rico Figliolini spotlights three remarkable student artists featured in this year’s Wesleyan Artist Market. Eighth graders Kimberly Wang and Nika Jensen, along with sixth grader Carter Jensen, share their creative journeys—ranging from edible art like fruit jellies and peppermint bark to handmade jewelry and custom-designed bags.

Kimberly talks about her love for food art and balancing sweetness with fruity freshness, while Nika and Carter discuss building a jewelry business that also gives back—donating proceeds to families in the Philippines. This isn’t just an artist market; it’s a showcase of purpose-driven, globally inspired young talent. The event runs April 25–26 at Wesleyan School and is open to the public.

Podcast Takeaways:

  • Kimberly Wang creates handmade edible treats, balancing flavor and freshness for the show.
  • Nika and Carter Jensen co-run a jewelry and fashion accessory business, inspired by global travel and cultural experiences.
  • Nika donates part of her proceeds to support families in the Philippines.
  • All three students are deeply involved in extracurriculars—from musicals, marching band, math club, and academic bowl.
  • The Wesleyan Artist Market features 24 student artists and over 70 professionals—open to the public April 25–26.

Timestamp: 

00:02:19 – Student intros and extracurriculars 
00:03:06 – First-time participants and motivations for joining 
00:04:13 – Kimberly’s edible art and recipe testing process 
00:05:16 – Nika and Carter’s jewelry and bag design business 
00:07:06 – The reward of watching people enjoy your creations 
00:08:20 – Donating art profits to support families in the Philippines 
00:10:39 – Future aspirations in medicine and law, with art as a passion 
00:12:06 – Behind-the-scenes logistics of preparing for the market 
00:13:25 – Global travel inspiration: 73 countries and counting
00:17:19 – Where the students draw artistic inspiration 
00:20:04 – Custom requests: From peppermint bark to Lego earrings 
00:21:16 – Anticipation and excitement for this year’s market 

00:22:29 – Reflections on Wesleyan and the artist experience 

Transcript: 

00:00:01 – Rico Figliolini 

Hey, everyone. This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life. We have a great set of guests today. Because of the upcoming Wesleyan Artist Market, we thought we’d do some interviews with student artists. Three of the 24 that are going to be at Wesleyan Artist Market. So they’re with me here today. So we’re going to get right into that shortly. I just want to say thank you to our corporate sponsors. So I want to say thank you to EV Remodeling, Inc., based here in Peachtree Corners. The owner is Eli. Him and his family live here. They’re great. They do a lot of design work, design your space. Essentially, any home remodeling you need from whether it’s your kitchen, your bathroom, or a whole house remodel, or even an addition to your home, think about it, whatever you need, Eli can handle. So check them out. Go to evremodelinginc.com and find out how they can design your space and your life. Our next sponsor just came on, and they’re Vox Pop Uli. I want to thank them for joining us as well. They deal with all sorts of things you can imagine putting your logo on, similar to a little bit about what these kids do, right? They’re creating artwork. They’re creating a brand for themselves. And so this is what Vox Pop Uli does, right? They’ll take your brand and bring it to life. Essentially, anything that you can think of that would go on apparel, whether it’s sweaters or T-shirts or wherever you want to put your brand engraving, your logo, what object you want to put it on, even vehicle wraps. So if you’ve got a truck, you want to put a whole wrap around it, check them out because they can do that. They’re here in Peachtree Corners and they’re called Vox Pop Uli. So visit their website. I’ll have the links in the show notes as well. So thank you guys. I appreciate your support. So now let’s get right into it. Let me introduce our three artists, great Wesleyan students. Can’t wait to start talking to them. We have Kimberly Wang first on your left, on my left, and Nika and her brother Carter Jensen, who work together creating the artwork they do. So I’m going to ask you guys just to, you know, give me a little background. Tell me who you are, your grade, what you do, extracurricular, stuff like that. This way our audience can get to know a little bit more about you. So let’s start with Kimberly Wang. Hey, Kimberly. 

00:02:19 – Kimberly Wang 

My name is Kimberly Wang. I’m in eighth grade this year, and outside of Artist Market, I do marching band, and I also do the musical production this year, which is Matilda. 

00:02:31 – Rico Figliolini 

Excellent. What about Nika? How about you? 

00:02:34 – Nika Jensen 

I’m also in eighth grade. My name is Nika Jensen, and apart from doing the Artist Market, I do cross country. I’m also in Matilda this year, and I also do math counts, which is a math club.

00:02:47 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay, cool. And Carter? 

00:02:49 – Carter Jensen 

Hello, my name is Carter Jensen. I’m in the sixth grade. And outside of the artist market, I do academic pool and I also do basketball. 

00:03:00 – Rico Figliolini 

Excellent. Alright, cool. So have you guys ever done the artist market before? Is this the first time? 

00:03:06 – Kimberly Wang 

This is my second year doing it this year. 

00:03:08 – Rico Figliolini 

Second? 

00:03:10 – Nika Jensen 

Yeah, this is our first year because we’re new students this year. 

00:03:13 – Rico Figliolini 

Alright, cool. What inspired you to get into it, Nika? 

00:03:17 – Kimberly Wang 

Well, I had my own business before we came to Wesleyan and so I thought that the artist market is a good way to like show my business to other people in our community. So yeah. 

00:03:30 – Rico Figliolini 

And you brought in your brother Carter to help you with? 

00:03:35 – Nika Jensen 

Yes, sir. He’s also part of the business. 

00:03:39 – Rico Figliolini 

Alright cool. Okay so, Kimberly. Food. Food is art, right? I’m sure your mom would probably say, it’s food, just eat it. But you’re playing with your food, essentially. What they used to tell you not to do, right? So when you create your food art, what do you think about? How do you go through this? How do you choose what you do and what do you exactly do? 

00:04:13 – Kimberly Wang 

So this year, I am making fruit jellies and peppermint bark. And when I think about what creations I want to make for the artist market, I go online and I look through like, what are some popular desserts that a lot of people like? And once I like choose my items, then I go through

the recipe and then I do a lot of trial and errors to make sure that like the products are like healthy and they taste well. 

00:04:42 – Rico Figliolini 

So they have to be edible, right? Because this is edible art? 

00:04:45 – Kimberly Wang 

Definitely, yes. 

00:04:46 – Rico Figliolini 

So are you eating a lot of the edible art before you get to what you need? 

00:04:50 – Kimberly Wang 

Not really. I don’t usually taste a lot of the food. I let my family taste it. 

00:04:56 – Rico Figliolini 

Ah, good. I like that. Yes. Get them to participate. Cool. So edible art, that’s one way of doing it. Jewelry, that’s something else, right? Wearable. How do you guys, Nika, Carter, how do you get to the place of what you do? 

00:05:16 – Nika Jensen 

So I started my business when I was 11 years old and it started like I got my first jewelry making kit and I kind of just expanded from there. So like I usually use Amazon to search and find like the prettiest designs like of earrings and pendants and get opinions from other people like my mom and my family to see like if they think it’s like wearable and if they like it. So I browse on Amazon for a while and I find like the best and high quality products and then I hand make them at home usually like every day after I come home from school so and my brother he does something else and he can tell you about that. 

00:06:01 – Carter Jensen 

I, my sister, she got a Cricut machine for, like, her 12th birthday, I think. And started making these, like, iron-on bags with the Cricut machine and, like, making them based on, like, Georgia and, like, Wesleyan and designing it based on fashion. 

00:06:19 – Rico Figliolini 

Alright. Cool. So let’s get back to Kimberly. The food that you do. Do you have particular flavors you like? Do you have particular areas that you stay in? 

00:06:33 – Kimberly Wang 

So this year I’m trying out like something more sweet with chocolate. But last year I definitely went for more of like the fruity side. And I think I like to keep it like a balance. So that way one is not overpowering the other. My personal favorite will probably be fruit because it’s healthy. And I mean, it just tastes good in general.

00:06:56 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay. Alright cool. What’s the most rewarding part that you can think of, of making edible art? 

00:07:06 – Kimberly Wang 

Well, I mean definitely like you said before you get to eat a lot of food. I mean, I did say before that I don’t eat a lot of the creations I make, but sometimes I still do eat it. And so I think it’s also really rewarding to see like people try out your creations and see like their reactions to what they think of it. 

00:07:27 – Rico Figliolini 

So when, I know I’ve spoken to other artists when they sell their artwork like paintings or stuff like that they get a chance to see it sometimes when the fan that bought it if you will, would send them a picture of where they hung it right? Yours disappears right? 

00:07:45 – Kimberly Wang 

Yeah, exactly. 

00:07:47 – Rico Figliolini 

Yeah I guess, there’s no way to, short of doing a selfie with it or taking pictures of it, there’s no there’s no permanency to it so how does that feel? 

00:07:57 – Kimberly Wang 

I mean well as long as the people enjoy it that’s good. And I mean I think mainly it’s about like the memory that you have of having the food and if you like it then it stays as a good memory for you and if you don’t then I mean you can always try out different things. 

00:08:20 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay. Nika, Carter, as far as the jewelry goes the, you’ve used it to raise money to support children in the philippines? yes 

00:08:29 – Nika Jensen 

Yes sir. 

00:08:31 – Rico Figliolini 

Is that, is that how you started this when you were 11? Is that the reason? 

00:08:35 – Kimberly Wang 

No, so I was like 11 during the pandemic. So I was always looking for a way to express my creativity. And so that’s how I started my own business. And so I was selling at my uncle’s pharmacy and I was saving up the money to use for like college or for like other events later on in my life. But this last year and a half before this school year, we were living in the Philippines. And so I was really touched by all of the families there. And we even did something similar where we gave out food and canned goods over Christmas to poor families there. So that just

really touched me. And so ever since we got back to America, I’ve been donating part of my profits to other families in the Philippines. 

00:09:24 – Rico Figliolini 

Carter, did you end up going on that trip as well? 

00:09:28 – Carter Jensen 

Yeah, I was with her. We stayed there for about a year and a half. We also did schooling there. 

00:09:36 – Rico Figliolini 

It’s interesting brothers and sisters, I have three kids and you know growing up brothers and sisters always there could be dynamics there. So how do you get along? Do you ever say to your sister, I don’t know about that. You know that might not look as good, that might not sell. Do you give good feedback? I mean how do you praise her or how do you work together? 

00:09:58 – Carter Jensen 

She’s more of the leader of the business so like I usually just like try to like agree with her and like yeah. 

00:10:12 – Rico Figliolini 

Alright that’s cool well you need a leader of the pack sometimes right? So Nika the artwork that you do, you know this is part of what you do you’ve mentioned other things you do right? I know you’re young, you all are, you know you’re not old enough to really think well maybe you are to really think what you want to do with your life right? Is art something that you want to keep as part of what you’re doing in your life? 

00:10:39 – Nika Jensen 

It’s definitely something that’s of great value to me, but I kind of want to pursue the medical field, but art is also really important to me. 

00:10:49 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay. Sounds good. Same question to Kimberly. What about you? How do you feel about the work you do? 

00:10:57 – Kimberly Wang 

I definitely enjoy making food, but like Nika said, I was also really interested in the medical field. And so like I’m not really sure if I’m going to continue pursuing this. But I mean it’s definitely brought me a lot of joy while doing food art. 

00:11:15 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay. Medical field both of you, that’s cool. What about Carter? How about you? 00:11:19 – Carter Jensen

I kind of like, I like doing art it’s one way to like express your creativity as my sister said. But I also kind of, I’m not really sure what I want to do when I grow up, maybe be a lawyer. 

00:11:33 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay. Well, artwork gives you a chance, right, to play a little bit, to be able to also see how people, like Kimberly, like you said about how when people see your food or taste your food and your food art, if you will, and it gives you a chance to see how people appreciate what you’re doing, I think, right? The challenges of making food art and keeping it fresh and making sure you’re going to deliver it on the right way I guess at the Wesleyan artist market, how do you how do you handle that part of it? 

00:12:06 – Kimberly Wang 

So for me the night before each day of the selling I would stay up really late and I make all my products so they’re all fresh and they’re all new. Because I want the best for the people that are eating the food because I don’t want anything to go bad overnight and so I make sure that it’s always new products and I make it, yeah. 

00:12:32 – Rico Figliolini 

We don’t have the same issue with the jewelry that you do, Nika. So that could last forever, right? But putting it together, sourcing the supplies, right, of what you do, the logistics of it, I guess. How do you handle that? Like getting all the materials together? Do you order it all on Amazon? 

00:12:52 – Nika Jensen 

Yeah, I order like 99% of all of my things from Amazon. And then since I already have the materials shipped to me, then all I have to do is just create them from my house. So it’s easier for me than having to go out and buy supplies at stores. 

00:13:11 – Rico Figliolini 

Sounds good. What inspires you as far as jewelry goes? I know that you said you look online to see other things and what the trend is. So where do you find most of your trends? Is it just on Amazon or is it social media, other places? 

00:13:25 – Nika Jensen 

I kind of observe other people and like what they wear and also social media. And I get a lot of inspiration also from like nature and from like my travels. We’ve been to a lot of countries in the past five years, 173 countries. 

00:13:44 – Rico Figliolini 

How many? 

00:13:45 – Nika Jensen 

I’m sorry, not 173, 73 countries.

00:13:49 – Rico Figliolini 

73 countries? 

00:13:50 – Nika Jensen 

Yes, sir. 

00:13:51 – Rico Figliolini 

That you’ve been to in how many years? I can’t even wrap my head around that. How did you even do that? Teleport? I mean, how did you do that? Wow. What is your heritage, if you don’t mind me asking? 

00:14:12 – Nika Jensen 

I’m half Filipino. My brother and I are half Filipino. And then my father is part Danish and then also American. 

00:14:21 – Rico Figliolini 

Do you speak any languages? 

00:14:23 – Nika Jensen 

I speak the language of the Philippines called Tagalog and then English. And I’m learning Spanish. 

00:14:30 – Rico Figliolini 

Really? Okay. Kimberly, how about you? 

00:14:33 – Kimberly Wang 

So my mom is Taiwanese and my dad is Chinese. So I speak Chinese, English. I’m learning French and I’m learning Korean. 

00:14:43 – Rico Figliolini 

Really? Wow. Okay. Speak Mandarin, is it? Okay. My son was learning that for a year and he was, it’s a tough language to learn. But I’m sure being able to travel for example Nika, to be able to see other other countries and inspiration from those countries. What of the 73, 75 countries you visited what would you say the top five would be for that type of inspiration? Can you pick that up? 

00:15:16 – Nika Jensen 

I think so. I really like Argentina just because it’s so unique and the culture is just so strong there. Like you really feel so immersed just when you like step into the country. I like Italy, not only because of the food, but that’s also where I got a lot of inspiration for my jewelry. Just like the glass in Venice, like the Murano glass, like that’s also a really big inspiration. In Turkey, that’s when I first like found my interest in jewelry because there was, we went to this bead store and there was like thousands of different beads and I got to like choose different charms and like experiment with creating jewelry. So Turkey, Argentina, Italy, and then I have to give it to the

Philippines, obviously, because we lived there for so long. And then that’s hard. What do you think, Carter? 

00:16:12 – Carter Jensen 

I like India because I really like butter chicken. Also like Italy because I like pizza and pasta. 

00:16:27 – Rico Figliolini 

Yes, can’t get any better pizza than Italy, that’s for sure. 

00:16:30 – Carter Jensen 

Yeah, it’s really good there. And I also like Japan because it’s very futuristic and it’s like… 

00:16:38 – Rico Figliolini 

Is it? 

00:16:39 – Carter Jensen 

Yeah, it’s like a new environment and it’s like… 

00:16:45 – Rico Figliolini 

Yeah, cool. I can’t wait I think where, I think we may be heading there in July so that would be fun. I’ve never been so that would be interesting. Cool so with the artwork, with the inspiration, with the journey that you guys have been on, do you think that, are there any artists it’s hard and food maybe unless it’s Gordon Ramsay or something, but do you draw any inspiration? Who do you draw inspiration from for the work for what you do? Let’s start with Kimberly. 

00:17:19 – Kimberly Wang 

I don’t really have a specific artist that I look up to but I do watch some cooking shows and some like dessert making shows and they always really inspire me so I feel like that’s what really led me into like starting food art. And so I was like, whoa, this is really cool. And so I was like, okay, let me try this. And so now I’m here and then I’m like, this is pretty fun. 

00:17:49 – Rico Figliolini 

Oh, okay. Carter, I know you’re not the main person doing the artwork, but what do you see when you’re working with your sister? How does that feel working with her, doing the stuff with her, the artwork? Whatever you’re doing with her, how you know what’s that journey feel like for a brother and his sister? 

00:18:13 – Carter Jensen 

It’s kind of relaxing doing artwork and like peeling off like the stickers on the bags 

00:18:26 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay, alright, that’s cool. Sister, how do you feel? 

00:18:30 – Nika Jensen

Yeah I just enjoy anytime I’m like I get to make jewelry because I feel like it’s such like an important thing to me. And it also like my brother said it’s really relaxing and just like sitting in our home and just like making jewelry it’s like, it’s really fun for me. 

00:18:48 – Rico Figliolini 

Do you wear? I’m assuming you wear some of the stuff you make? 

00:18:51 – Nika Jensen 

No actually I don’t have my ears pierced. And so I just like making it and seeing my creations on other people. 

00:19:00 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay, cool. Kimberly, do you ever decide, I’ve got to make something, I want to eat something, do you ever decide to do that, or is it always just for the art? 

00:19:10 – Kimberly Wang 

I think mainly just for the art. Because, I mean, I do piano outside of school, and so most of my time is sucked into that. But, I mean, sometimes if I do want to make something, yeah, I’ll go for it. And I’ll try my best, but it might not be successful. 

00:19:31 – Rico Figliolini 

Have you ever been, have you ever designed anything custom design? Because someone requested it from you? Like has anyone ever asked Kimberly, has any anyone ever asked yeah can you make that for me? Like aside from the artwork you sell. 

00:19:50 – Kimberly Wang 

I don’t think so. I did get one request by a high schooler to make peppermint bark for him for his art and science class. But like other than that, no. 

00:20:00 – Rico Figliolini 

Okay. How about Nika? Have you ever had a request for jewelry? 

00:20:04 – Nika Jensen 

Yes, I have. So my mom was posting some of my creations on social media and someone reached out to me and she wanted lego earrings like so little like lego figurines as earrings. So I used some of my own legos and then we also bought some but I drilled a hole on top of their head and I had to stick a screw inside. I had to mail it to them. And then they sent me a picture of them wearing it. 

00:20:42 – Rico Figliolini 

It’s just the way you were describing it, drilling the hole in the head. It’s like, all right, well, that’s good. So there’s the art. You do anything for art, I guess. That’s good. Great. We’ve been showcasing and talking a lot about art here and food and stuff. What are you looking forward to this year’s Wesleyan Artist Market? What is it that’s looking forward? I mean, you have there’s

three of you out of 24 other students. Have you seen or talked to other students and what they’re doing for the show, for the market? What are you looking forward to? 

00:21:16 – Nika Jensen 

To me? 

00:21:17 – Rico Figliolini 

Yeah, sure. Let’s go with it. 

00:21:18 – Nika Jensen 

Okay. Yes. Kimberly and I are actually really good friends so we’ve been like talking with our other friends that are doing the artist market and we’re like you know what they’re selling and yeah. I’m just really excited because we’ve never my brother and I have never done something like this before so I think it’ll be a really good opportunity and it’ll be fun so. 

00:21:39 – Rico Figliolini 

Something wholly new. That’s good, a good experience. How about you Kimberly? 

00:21:45 – Kimberly Wang 

Ever since last year, I was really astonished by everything I saw, even if it was like the adult artists, but like the student artists, they were all so talented. I know like a few other people are making food art and people like Nika are making jewelry. And so I’m honestly really inspired and just really blown away by all the effort that everyone puts in. 

00:22:13 – Rico Figliolini 

Cool. Anything that I’ve not touched on, guys, that you want to share about, individually about what it takes to do what you’re doing or your experience at Wesleyan? Why don’t we start with Kimberly? 

00:22:29 – Kimberly Wang 

I don’t really have much. I feel like this was a really nice opportunity to be able to share what Wesleyan Artist Market is about and how students have been able to participate in it. 

00:22:42 – Rico Figliolini 

Cool. Nika? 

00:22:43 – Nika Jensen 

Yeah so my mom printed out pictures of our time in the philippines so this first one it’s all the bags of food that my old school donated to families in the philippines. 

00:23:01 – Rico Figliolini 

Excellent. Glad you printed those out. 

00:23:03 – Nika Jensen

This is my old class. This was this year when I sent my profits back to the Philippines. And those are all the boxes of food and clothes that they get with that money. 

00:23:16 – Rico Figliolini 

Wow, you really did make a lot of money. 

00:23:18 – Nika Jensen 

Yes, sir. 

00:23:19 – Rico Figliolini 

That’s good. That’s great. And maybe at some point I’ll ask Camille on this, getting some pictures from you all of some of the artwork that you’ve done. I’d love to include that when we post the podcast as well. And if you have any social media where you post your artwork on, if it’s public, feel free. We’re going to be sharing this and we’ll be taking you all as well. I think we got everything covered. I mean, you’re all just unbelievable kids. You’re just doing great work. And I’m just like, it’s always great to talk to you, to Wesleyan students, just like, or to students that are motivated, put it that way, to do things. So glad to see that you’re doing all sorts of things and I still can’t wrap my head around 75 countries, I’m just still trying to think that just like in five years, I can’t even see doing that. But I want to thank you all for for joining me so this is Wesleyan Artist Market you all will be at and that’s April Friday the 25th from 10:00 – 7:00 pm and Saturday April 26 from 10:00 to 3:00 pm. We’ve been talking with Kimberly Wang, who does food art, edible food art, and Nika and her brother Carter Jensen, who do jewelry. Appreciate you guys being with me and being so talkative and just being good guests. So thank you all. Hang in there with me for a second. Everyone else, I want to say thank you again for joining us. You can find out more about Wesleyan Artist Market from just going to wesleyanschool.org or just Googling Wesleyan Artist Market it’ll pop up for you. And it’s open to the public, Friday and Saturday in April. So check them out. Visit the 24 students that are displaying their artwork as well, along with the over, I think it’s over 70 professional artists there. And thank you all from, I guess you’re in Wesleyan Wolf TV station too. So appreciate you doing that with me. So thank you everyone. Stay well.

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Arts & Literature

Perimeter Ballet Celebrates 30 Years of Dance and Inspiration

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Ballet dancers on stage during a production of Cinderella. The dancers are posed in front of a lit backdrop of Cinderella's castle.

Perimeter Ballet celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Founded in September 1995, the faith-based ballet school in Johns Creek has long been an integral part of the local arts scene and the community.

What began as a bare-bones program held in the sanctuary of Perimeter Church — on carpeted concrete floors, using the backs of chairs for barres — has grown into a respected school of more than 200 students. Ranging in age from five to 18, the young dancers at Perimeter Ballet are not only committed to the study of dance but also to using their gifts to share their faith.

Ballet dancers on stage for The Nutcracker. Two dancers are leaping as the others stand around them in the background
From The Nutcracker; photo courtesy of Catherine Maxwell and Perimeter Ballet

According to the program’s website, their purpose is to “emphasize character along with technique … to counter the natural tendency towards self-absorption in the ballet studio.”

They are “very committed to teaching children to dance — to develop discipline, technique and musicality. [But] the Christian instructors [also] train the students in a context that understands that there’s a reason to dance.”

30 years of dance and faith

Current director, Becky Brown, has led the school for several years, growing the program while faithfully following Perimeter Ballet’s original mission. She oversees weekly classes, summer dance camps and annual productions, including an acclaimed Spring Recital and a presentation of The Nutcracker each December.

For the 30th anniversary, Brown is excited to continue the creative work of the ballet school and share their artistry and message with a larger audience.

A middle aged woman with blonde hair, wearing all black, standing amidst a group of young ballerinas, posing and wearing pink tutus.
Becky Brown with dancers 2018; photo courtesy of Catherine Maxwell and Perimeter Ballet

“This year will certainly be a special time for us as we celebrate and look back on 30 wonderful years of Perimeter Ballet and 20 years for our performing company, For His Glory,” she said. “We will be performing the Nutcracker December 11–13 and will have some beautiful new costumes to commemorate the occasion. We look forward to seeing  many of our alumni and their families at the performance.”

Classes and instructors

Open to the community at large, weekly classes at Perimeter Ballet range from Creative Movement, PreBallet and grade-level classes for preschoolers through third grade to more advanced classes (two or more times per week) for older students.

Summer camp sessions as well as intermediate level and advanced level intensives are also offered. For the upper-level intensives, students work on their ballet technique but also branch out into jazz and other forms of dance.

A group of dancers on stage for a finale. They all stand with an arm raised, looking up with blue and white lighting.
Behold cast finale; photo courtesy of Catherine Maxwell and Perimeter Ballet

The school’s nine teachers are skilled not just as instructors but as performers themselves, having years of experience dancing with companies such as Ballet Southeast, Atlanta Ballet, North Atlanta Dance Academy and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. They bring that experience and their Christian faith to all of their classes and interactions with the young students.

For His Glory

In addition to the work they do as a ballet school, Perimeter Ballet also has an audition-selected performance company — For His Glory.

With three levels, made up of dedicated students striving to advance their skills and reach their “God-given potential while giving glory to [their] Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” the program presents several high-quality productions throughout the year.

a group of young ballet dancers standing in a stairwell next to an open door. They are in a circle with heads bowed, praying before going onstage for their performance.
photo courtesy of Perimeter Ballet

As Perimeter Ballet shares on their website: “Dancers are trained in the ballet classics as well as contemporary forms of dance, which are used in performances, worship settings and outreach. Classical ballets … in the group’s repertoire include Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, excerpts from Four Seasons and La Fille Mal Gardee. In addition to Christmas and other outreach programs, For His Glory has danced internationally in London, India and Belarus.”

The group most recently performed Beauty & the Beast for two successful shows on stage at the Perimeter Church Sanctuary in early February of this year.

Impact and inspiration

All of this — the focus on faith and commitment to dance, the classes, intensives and stunning productions — have been a decades-long inspiration to the community and especially the student dancers who take part.

Many of the students stay with Perimeter Ballet for much of their childhood, learning and growing in dance as well as in their faith from elementary age through high school. That kind of involvement can clearly impact every aspect of their lives, from discipline learned to how they choose to interact with and be in the world.

A group of young ballet dancers onstage performing Cinderella.
Cinderella 2018; photo courtesy of Catherine Maxwell and Perimeter Ballet

One student, Anne Bradley Maxwell has been taking ballet with the Perimeter program since she was three years old. Now a high school junior in Peachtree Corners, she’s reflected on her time at the school and in the performance company as well as Perimeter Ballet’s milestone anniversary.

“For fifteen years … I matured within this unique, local community arts program,” she shared. “This year marks the 30th anniversary of its founding … and I’m honored to say I’ve been a student for half of that era. The talented instructors in [the] program not only helped advance me into an accomplished ballerina but also into a more faithful servant of Jesus Christ using dance as a form of worship.”

A lifelong journey

“This lifelong journey included annual seasonal training, auditions, numerous external summer intensives and wonderful performances on stages across the nation and abroad, for audiences ranging from a few dozen to several thousand,” Maxwell continued.

“… Taking ballet has instilled in me a deep understanding of perseverance and resilience. Pursuing excellence in ballet required me to overcome physical and emotional challenges … I learned to seek out solutions — whether physical therapy for healing my body or prayer and reflection to rejuvenate my spirit. These experiences have strengthened my ability to face setbacks, adapt and emerge stronger.

Ballet has cultivated in me a unique combination of athleticism, discipline and creative imagination. The most elegant performances emerge from the interplay of technical mastery and creative expression. The collaborative nature of ballet, where individuals work in harmony to create something greater than themselves, informs my approach to teamwork and innovation, both in the classroom and community.”

A high school aged ballerina on stage as Lumiere in a production of Beauty and the Beast
Anne Bradley Maxwell in Beauty and the Beast; photos courtesy of Catherine Maxwell

“… Ballet has [also] given me the gift of joy — both in experiencing it personally as a testament to Christ’s goodness and in sharing it with audiences. This joy, while intangible, is a powerful force that I hope to bring into my next chapters following high school. Whether through teaching movement, choreographing performances or exploring ways to expand ballet offerings, I aspire to enrich the community with the beauty and joy of dance.

… My time at Perimeter Ballet has equipped me with perseverance, discipline, creativity and a passion for sharing joy — qualities that I am excited to further cultivate as a young adult. These will not only enhance my personal journey but also contribute meaningfully to the rich tapestry of life. As I enter my senior year later this fall, I am full of gratitude for the solid foundation of technique and creative expression honoring God as the giver of my talent.”

Upcoming events

Perimeter Ballet’s Annual Spring Recital will be held in the Perimeter Church Sanctuary on Thursday, May 1 and Friday, May 2 from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

Summer camp sessions are scheduled for June and July. Registration will open on April 15.

2025-2026 classes will start in August with registration opening on April 15.

With help from Anne Bradley, the school is also planning a fundraiser event later in the year to mark the 30th anniversary.

For more information, visit perimeterballet.com.

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