Bigfork venue open to students for a week

In keeping with its mission to sponsor, support and nurture the performing arts, the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts Foundation is holding its annual Scholarship Week in January.

The primary purpose of the scholarship program is to cultivate a culture of theater and encourage an appreciation of the arts among young people throughout the Flathead Valley. In an effort to support youth involvement in the arts, the center is available rent-free for one week each year to students who want to share their talent from the stage.

This year's performance will be produced by Wolfpack Theatre Company, a theatrical group from Glacier High School. According to Producer Ivanna Fritz, this will be the first opportunity the group has had to perform on the “big stage.”

The students will be performing "Slaughterhouse 5" on at 7 p.m. Jan. 9 and 10 in the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students. Tickets are available at Glacier High School and Photo Video Plus in Kalispell.

Assisting with the cost of busing students to local productions or to theater workshops held throughout the state is another aspect of the scholarship program. Eighteen of Glacier High School's Thespian Troupe are the beneficiaries of a $900 scholarship to help defray the cost of attending the Montana Thespian Festival in Missoula in February.

According to Fritz, the performance at the Bigfork Center "is just the opportunity we need to try our skills on the big stage before competing on the University of Montana campus in the state competition."

The foundation's board of directors also offers outreach scholarship funds to assist with the cost of lessons in dance, musical instruments and voice. The 2013 recipients of these awards are Merle Robinson of Whitefish and Daniel Mitchke from Bigfork, each of whom will receive a $300 grant. Christian Johnson is the instructor for both of these recipients.

Robinson is an advanced student who will be instructed in guitar, mandolin and four-string banjo. Mitchke is a junior at Bigfork High and, except for some lessons at the age of 10, he is self-taught and considers himself to be a beginner. He said he was very thankful to be able to study guitar under Johnson’s tutelage.

This year the foundation has broadened its artistic scope to include a visual arts exhibit. All of the Bigfork schools through 12th grade are participating in a nationwide arts program called Reflections. This is the third year that the Bigfork PTA has sponsored local participation in this nationwide contest.

The theme for this years exhibit is the Magic of the Moment. The exhibit, along with a reception, will be held at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts lobby from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 8. 

"The confluence of the performing and visual arts makes for a wonderful synergy that we would like to encourage,” foundation President Ardi Aiken said. “Now that the center has a much larger, more accommodating lobby, it is our hope that it will become a place for community gatherings such as this."