Young people around the Waco area with a thirst for the arts will find new options and outlets this fall in addition to what’s offered in school with three groups launching new programs. At the Performing Arts Community Center, which makes its downtown Waco debut in a few weeks, 19 classes in theater, art, dance and sign language are part of an expansive schedule that includes 26 performances and 18 workshops. At the Waco Civic Theatre, a Rising Stars Academy aimed at kids from pre-K to 12th grade starts operation, its classes an extension of the theater’s summer camps and performances.
Then there’s “A Beautiful Message,” a mural-painting and mentorship program led by Waco artist Vincent Thomas, where a small group of students ages 14 to 20 will work with Thomas in painting two Waco murals while learning about the business of art. David Corkill, director of the soon-to-open Performing Arts Community Center, said the multipurpose space should help rehearsal and performance needs for Waco arts groups and performers. The new center at 924 Austin Ave.
formally opens Sept. 6. For PACC director David Corkill, the classes for young people and adults make up only one component of the multi-faceted arts space he’s opening at 924 Austin Ave.
, whose multiple rooms will host rehearsals, post- and pre-rehearsal relaxation, visual arts, music, a dance space with wall mirrors, a 28-by-16-foot stage for practice and performances with room for audiences, and a concession area avai.