Culver City Observer -

This annual free event designed to help arts-interested students look ahead to college and beyond provides high school students and parents with information about higher education and careers in the creative workforce.

high school students as well as parents and high school educators are invited to register and attend Center Theatre Group's College & Career Fair for the Arts. This free event will be at The Music Center Annex in Downtown Los Angeles from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 18.

This annual event hosted by Center Theatre Group, now celebrating its eighth year, was created to help students, parents, and educators learn about and plan for careers and higher education opportunities in the creative workforce, with a focus on theatre arts. College & Career Fair for the Arts participants will receive a free professional headshot, attend panel discussions and workshops hosted by creative professionals as well as a resource fair with information about local and national higher education options, meet one-on-one with a college counselor, and learn about opportunities for creative students. To register and for information about this event, visit centertheatregroup.org/collegefair. The deadline to register for College & Career Fair for the Arts is March 15 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

"Our team always looks forward to College & Career Fair for the Arts as we value lifelong learning, inspiration, and human connection," said Center Theatre Group Creative Workforce Initiatives Director Nico Rosario. "The creative workforce is a thriving and engaging career path and this yearly event allows students, parents, and educators a unique opportunity to learn various pathways into the arts."

College & Career Fair for the Arts' theme – "May You Live in Interesting Times" – explores how art can provide comfort and context for life's challenges as we adapt to an ever-changing global landscape full of uncertainty and upheaval, as well as how and why artists view the world differently than others and how art helps people discover new ways of seeing ourselves and the world. This theme will also be explored in the plenary session at the top of the event.

Participating colleges and universities for local resource fair include American Academy of Dramatic Arts, ArtCenter College of Design, CalArts, Cal Poly Pomona, California State Summer School Arts Foundation, California State University, Northridge, East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Valley College, Loyola Marymount University, Musicians Institute, Santa Monica College, University of California, Irvine, UCLA, and the University of Southern California.

Workshops include "How Will Know (Which College is Right for Me)?" with Christina Frias (East Los Angeles College) and Miebaka Opuiyo-Yohannes (UCLA Film & TV), "Your Best Selfie: Making the Perfect Audition Self-Tape" led by Henry Kelly (Actor/Writer), "Breaking Into the Business: Exploring Internships, Apprenticeships, and More" hosted by Aurora Ilog (Center Theatre Group) and Jack Monforte (Grand Performances), "From AA to BFA: Demystifying Undergraduate Degrees" with Ann Catherine Closs-Farley (USC) and Michelle Jaquis (Otis College), "College Financing 101: A Guide to Paying for College" led by Sergio Ramirez (USC), "Me, Myself, and I: Resumes and Personal Statements for Creatives" moderated by Vanessa Pellegrini (East Los Angeles College), and "You Got the Part: All You Need to Know About Casting" with "The Secret Garden" casting team Michael Donovan Casting.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles' leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, and in collaboration with the four Associate Artistic Directors, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller and Kelley Kirkpatrick, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation's leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions, and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.