Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County nets Regional and National Digital Arts Festivals Winners

rot2Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) named five Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County Club members from the South Haven and Forrest “Dusty” Rhode Portage Units as regional winners in the 12th Annual Digital Arts Festivals Competition. The festivals celebrate Club members' creativity in six areas – graphic design, photo illustration, music composition, game design, Claymation, and live - action and movie making – and provide Club members with recognition at the local, regional and national levels. Comcast, Sony Electronics and Cartoon Network sponsor the Digital Arts Festivals.

Regional winners included Ilija and Sanja Kirov, Taylor Clemens, Nathan Hansen, and Daniel GoShay. Club members represented Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County by submitting creative pieces, first, at the local level. Twenty-eight entries were submitted locally with five winners moving onto the Midwest Regional Competition – a 13-state area.

Two Club members moved onto Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Competition and were selected as national winners. These two Club members include: Sanja Kirova – Forrest “Dusty” Rhode Portage Unit – Winner in the Animation Category for ages 13 to 15. Taylor Clemens – South Haven Unit – Winner in the Animation Category for ages 16 to 18.

As national teen winners, Kirova and Taylor are invited to an all-expense paid awards trip to Los Angeles, CA the week of July 14 – 18, 2014.

“Through the Digital Arts Festivals we are able to inspire our future designers, game developers, filmmakers and musicians,” said Dan Rauzi, senior director of technology programs, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “It is amazing what our kids and teens can do when given access to technology and allowed to express themselves creatively.”

The Digital Arts Festivals allow BGCA, along with festival supporters Comcast, Sony Electronics and AMD Foundation, to give young people an avenue to get creative and design original pieces of digital artwork – from songs and self-portraits to stop-motion animation and short films. The competition is one component of the BGCA’s technology program which teaches critical technology skills.

Members ages 6-18 can take the tech skills they’ve learned through their Boys & Girls Clubs and enter various categories. Each year, around 20,000 Club youth from across the globe compete in local festivals. The Festivals are just one way that Boys & Girls Clubs of America provide technology access to some 4 million youth served by some 4,000 Clubs nationwide and abroad. To learn more about the Digital Arts Festivals and to view past national winners visit our Digital Arts Festivals Gallery.