By Anna Whitlow, YoungArts director of communications

Summertime is anything but a slow and lazy for talented YoungArts alumni. Their drive to excel in the arts, and hone their skills keeps their careers vibrant and thriving. This summer was eventful for the YoungArts national programs. In June, twenty of our students were honored by President Obama as Presidential Scholars in the Arts. To celebrate this landmark achievement YoungArts held performances in D.C.’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and exhibitions in the Smithsonian Museum of American Art for our brilliant Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

Here, at the Young Arts headquarters in downtown Miami, we have jumpstarted our regional program YoungArts Miami with a Summer Workshop Series, giving Miami-Dade students opportunities to work with master artists/performers such as Jennifer Armas, Meade Andrews, and Raul Esparza. Abdi Farah, 2005 Winner in Visual Arts (Level I) and Presidential Scholar in the Arts is the winner of Bravo TV’s ‘Work of Art’ reality show contest! He will get to exhibit his work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and receives $100,000! Read more here. Alumni DuJuan Smart and Billy Bell performed on the hit television series “So You Think You Can Dance” and wowed the judges with their stellar performances.

Big things are happening in the YoungArts family, and we want you to be the first to hear about them. Please fan us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and visit our blog at www.youngarts.org.