The Arts Conservatory for Teens (ACT) team could not have chosen a more picturesque location for its 10th-anniversary celebration.
The breakfast event, held April 21, was staged against a backdrop of the wind-swept waters of Tampa Bay at the St. Pete Pier’s Spa Beach Park. Music and mingling welcomed the audience of 250 sponsors and well-wishers, who were later regaled with live performances by a talented troupe of ACT’s current student artists.
The organization was founded in 2012 by visionary Dr. Alex Harris and co-founders Herbert Murphy, Derek Berset, and Shelia Reilly with a mission to educate, empower, and enrich the lives of youth and teens to foster healthy, productive, and responsible citizens.
From its humble beginnings as an after-school performing arts training program for 30 at-promise teens, ACT has blossomed into a world-class incubator for the creative workforce in a city now recognized as a beacon of the arts.
More than 13,000 young people have participated in ACT’s intensive development programs, such as its Summer Intensive, taught by Broadway performances, chart-topping recording artists, industry dance professionals, and the Young Artist Alliance, an advanced program for students exploring careers in the performing and visual arts.
Thousands more have taken part in ACT events and opportunities, including clinics, master classes, advocacy campaigns, live performances, and travel experiences.
ACT also manages school-based programs in partnership with Pinellas County Schools at four locations year-round. The early morning Character Essentials initiative focuses on building character and personal skill-building. It operates in the county’s Title 1 middle schools, including John Hopkins, Tyrone, Oak Grove, and Largo Middle.
The organization has never left its home base of operations in south St. Petersburg, where 75 percent of the city’s African-American community resides. ACT programs are available at several City of St. Petersburg community centers, including Enoch Davis Center, the Thomas “Jet” Jackson Center, Childs Park, and Lake Vista Recreation Centers. ACT’s Arts Magnet Program operates after school at the Factory St. Pete.
Yet, ACT’s impact is felt and seen across the globe as more and more of its alumni make their mark in diverse fields.
