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We, too, are made of wonders

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FOYA 2025

WONDER

The 2025 Festival of Young Artists theme "Wonder" is inspired by the work of 24th U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. Her poetry inspires us to find beauty and meaning in our surroundings and in everyday moments. Limón urges us to maintain a sense of awe and curiosity even when hope seems distant, and she reminds us to appreciate the many wonders of life that foster resilience and discovery.

 

" We, too, are made of wonders, of great
and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,
of a need to call out through the dark."


- Ada Limón, In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa

 

Click here to read and hear Ada Limón’s
In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa

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2025 Festival Winner
Visual Art Winner

Jenny Fang

Grade, 11
Shenendehowa
Acrylic Paint

Arise

Arise is a painting created with acrylic paint, and the underlying message of this art piece is mankind's evolution. I started with painting the stones, including the cracked stone figure, using a grayscale color palette, which was followed by layering on a mixture of clear gloss medium and blue paint that toned the painting—creating an underwater effect. I then painted the water's surface with realistic details such as water ripples, a blurred image of trees, and a penetrating light to further enhance the visual appearance of being submerged underwater. The final feature I added to my art piece was the transparent bubble figure, which I achieved through layering and blending the paint. Each of these components—the cracked stone figure, the contrast created from the light, and the bubble figure—was meaningfully added to convey my messages about mankind's evolution. The stones symbolize the lessons learned in the past and the older generation, who have created a foundation to aid the new and young. The light coming from the water's surface symbolizes hope, possibility, and transformation. The bubble figure symbolizes the new generation heading steadfastly into a new age. Together with these elements, I aimed to express how each generation after the other works to create a better future—forever evolving.

2025 Literary Winner, Gianna Zhang

Grade 9, Shaker High School

"we are both the artist and the canvas both the thread and the unraveling"

in the gaps we dream

i. i know of skies once split open of winds that hummed old songs of rivers gashed by storms once ended and i wonder—what did it dream of before us? what did it ever wonder?

2025 Performance Winner

Wonder

Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet

*Bedell, Audrey, Grade 12, Ballston Spa
Hong, Emeline, Grade 10, Saratoga Springs
Richter, Theresa, Grade 10, Saratoga Springs
Sackal, Lyla, Grade 9, Shenendehowa
Spoor, Lily, Grade 10, Saratoga Springs
*Yang, Iris, Grade 12, Shenendehowa

*(co-choreographer) ​​​

Explore the galleries of the Festival of Young Artists 2025, where creativity knows no bounds. Each gallery celebrates the selected submissions from this year's festival — a vibrant showcase of emerging voices and visions.

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VISUAL

Color, texture, and imagination come alive

Hand Writing

LITERARY

Stories, poems, and essays that move you

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PERFORMANCE

Music, movement, and moments on stage

2025 GALLERIES

Northern Lights

REGISTER FOR FOYA!

Sunday, Jun 01, 2025, 2:00pm

FREE EVENT!

The Adirondack Trust Company Festival of Young Artists is a free community event that is presented annually at SPAC to celebrate hundreds of the Capital Region’s brightest young actors, dancers, musicians, singers, poets, and visual artists.

06.02.2024 Festival of Young Artists_You
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