American Idol’s Amy Adams Partners with Garden Pathways to Mentor Youth
American Idol’s Amy Adams Partners with Garden Pathways to Mentor Youth
As a child, Amy Adams, of “American Idol” fame, always dreamed of making it. Making it meant not being on food stamps. Making it meant not having to eat generic macaroni and cheese. Making it meant not having to raise her siblings when she was nine years old.
Today Adams dreams of helping others to make it. She wants to guide youth to expand their dreams and translate them into reality.
Adams is partnering with Garden Pathways and American Sound Recording Studio to mentor youth through the arts. To launch the developing initiative, Garden Pathways is hosting “Garden Pathways Singing Camp” for young people, ages 12–18 on August 10–14, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at The Garden Community Center (900 22nd Street). The camp with Adams is being held in conjunction with Garden Pathways’ E3 Performing Arts program.
Adams hopes to open doors of opportunity for youth as she combines her experience and relationships in the music industry with inspiration, skill-building, and practical strategies. Singing camp participants will engage in a variety of activities, including private and group vocal lessons with Adams, staging with a professional choreographer, harmony techniques and music theory, and professional recording techniques at American Sound Recording Studio. Youth will receive mentoring on setting goals and achieving dreams as well as insights into the music industry. Participants will be featured with Adams in a showcase performance on August 14.
Admission to the camp is by audition only. All youth, ages 12–18, are invited to audition for the limited spaces. Auditions with Adams and Shay Brandon Burke, program director of E3 Performing Arts, will be held on Saturday, August 1 at 9:00 a.m. at The Garden Community Center. Youth should be prepared to sing two songs a cappella.
Camp tuition is $150, but scholarships are available with verification of need. To reserve a spot for the audition, call E3 Performing Arts at 323-8311.
“Garden Pathways Singing Camp” is the inaugural event for an emerging community-wide initiative to provide mentoring through the arts. Garden Pathways’ partnership with Adams and American Sound Recording Studio builds upon the non-profit’s experience as a provider of youth and adult mentoring services through its Family to Family Mentoring program. It draws upon E3 Performing Arts’ 12-year history of innovative after-school and day camp programs. “Our goal isn’t to produce the next pop star, but to guide and encourage youth to reach their full potential,” says Burke.
The expanded mentoring initiative infuses arts instruction with the fostering of life skills. It broadens options and opportunities for youth.
“I want young people in Kern County to have opportunities that I never had,” says Adams. Adams is calling upon local artists and other “Idols” and associates in the arts and entertainment industry to invest in the lives of Kern County’s youth. Her infectious passion to help youth achieve their potential, particularly those who are underserved and at risk, has already resulted in the commitments of “surprise” out-of-town guest artists who will be joining the endeavor as it continues to develop. “I’m going to find ways for local youth to interact with professionals in the industry,” says Adams with determination.
Adams rose to national prominence as a finalist on American Idol, Season 3. “The girl with the pink hair” grew up in Oildale as a latchkey kid who raised her siblings. Having never met her father and living with a mother who battled debilitating illness, Adams faced the challenges of poverty and at times relied on public assistance. She always dreamed of “making it” in this world. American Idol gave Adams a chance to start that journey and experience a world of opportunities far beyond her imagination.
Since 2004, Adams has toured the country twice: first with her fellow top-ten American Idols and then with the national tour of a renown Broadway show, for which she garnered rave reviews. She is on the verge of releasing a much anticipated country album. Adams now is zealously committed to igniting hope and opening doors of opportunity for less fortunate youth—mentoring them to set goals and achieve their dreams.
The mentoring partnership with American Sound Recording Studio provides youth with professional recording experiences in a state-of-the-art facility. The downtown studio, located one block from The Garden Community Center, has been likened by visiting artists and trade publications to professional studios in major cities. The Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce honored ASR with its 2009 Beautiful Bakersfield “Chairman's Award.”
Mentoring has been growing in recognition as an essential and effective investment in the future of Kern County. Chevron and the Kern Community Foundation’s Women’s and Girls’ Fund also have partnered with Garden Pathways through recent grant funding to expand mentoring services in the community. Judi McCarthy, chairman of Kern Community Foundation notes, “Good mentors guide youth toward success. They invest in young people’s capacity to achieve. Our community needs people from all walks of life to make this same investment in even more children and teens. As today’s youth become tomorrow’s leaders, the community ultimately benefits from the mentoring we offer now.”
GET INVOLVED
Garden Pathways Singing Camp
August 10–14; 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Auditions: Saturday, August 1; 9:00 a.m.
Call E3 Performing Arts at 323-8311 to reserve an audition spot.
The Garden Community Center
900 22nd Street Bakersfield (entrance on P St.)
Mentoring: To learn how you or your organization can become involved in mentoring, contact Garden Pathways at (661) 633-9133; www.gardenpathways.org
