ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Since 1989, Winthrop University has hosted more than 9,000 middle-school students through the annual summer ST-ARTS (Students With Special Talents in the Arts) program.
Now through June 23, the university is adding hundreds more to that list.
ST-ARTS connects York County and other regional students with talented artists and musicians, including faculty in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, allowing them to intensively study a specific arts area. Those areas include music, dance, design, drama and photography.
Students apply and audition for the program, and scholarships are often available.
For some, the word “ST-ARTS” leads into the “start” of their Winthrop career, like Hannah Hustad ’16.
Hustad participated in ST-ARTS all three years of middle school. She went on to attend Winthrop, earning degrees in dance and theatre. She even starred in the Johnson Theatre stage production of “Legally Blonde: The Musical.”
“I’m proud I attended a school that hosts such a beneficial event,” she said. “I don’t think I realized how important of an opportunity it was when I was younger. You grow so much as an artist and as a human being.”
Another alumna, Im Chan ’02, also participated in the program, later earning a Winthrop degree in art history and serving as a ST-ARTS volunteer.
“ST-ARTS was the first time I thought about art in a real way that could be studied and practiced,” Chan said. “I loved being able to work in real art studios at a university, which made it feel like so much more than just a hobby.”
For more information on the ST-ARTS program, contact starts@winthrop.edu or call 803/323-3965.
