SAN DIEGO, CA.- On Saturday, May 30, 2009, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego will host the first annual Artification: Teen Artfest, an event planned and produced by MCASD's Teen Art Council (TAC). From 7 to 10 pm, teens are invited to take over the Museum's downtown Jacobs Building galleries for a night of fun and artistic revelry. This free event will feature live music by local bands, teen DJs, gallery tours led by teens, teen-produced films, hands-on art-making activities, complimentary refreshments, and more.

The evening's activities will take inspiration from the current exhibition, Rising Tide: Film and Video Works from the MCA Collection, Sydney, with TAC Members leading gallery tours throughout the night, and art-making activities inspired by the works on view. Teen-produced stop-motion films that respond to the question "What is contemporary art?" will also be screened at the ArtFest.

MCASD's Teen Art Council aims to engage teenagers in compelling programs developed by teens and for teens. The TAC also fosters professional development in its members, by providing the teens with valuable experience in the fields of marketing, arts engagement, public speaking, and event planning and production.

A generally underrepresented demographic in art museums, MCASD believes that teens are an ideal audience for contemporary art. Like contemporary artists, they experiment, challenge, question, and explore issues of identity, authority, culture, irony, and social structures.

Teen Art Council
Launched in fall 2008, the Teen Art Council is at the core of MCASD's teen programs and plays an active, integral role in the planning and organizing of Museum events designed specifically for area teens, such as artist talks, new media initiatives, and artist-led workshops. Composed of 12 diverse teens from local high schools, this group meets with MCASD education staff on a weekly basis (from September through June) outside of school hours, and works together under Museum staff supervision to plan, develop, and market a spectrum of teen programs at MCASD.

MCASD is now accepting applications through June 1, 2009 for the 2009-2010 Teen Art Council. Applications can be downloaded at www.mcasd.org.