The 2009 Lehigh Valley Student Horror Film Festival is over!

Judging has taken place and congratulations to all the students who participated. The finalists will be posted on Monday, October 19th. The final films will be shown on October 24th at 2:00 pm at Eyer Middle School in Macungie.

This year, schools from the Lehigh Valley and beyond competed and the most dominating school district was East Penn School District. EPSD had the most entries of any school in the Lehigh Valley! We're disappointed more districts didn't get behind this great event for their kids. We utilized social networks, press releases, sent out flyers and post cards to all the schools in the Lehigh Valley.

This is an open event for all High School and Middle Schools to compete in a film festival for cash and prizes, who wouldn't want to be in such an event? This provides students the opportunity to express themselves creatively, work together to meet deadlines and promotes teamwork. Teachers should be jumping at this opportunity to promote their schools and their students!

We really need to understand why there is a disconnect with all the teachers in the Lehigh Valley with the Student Horror Film Festival. If we can’t get more teachers and schools to jump at this opportunity after 5 years of this event -- then only a few kids benefit from the experience instead of the hundreds who should.

Each and every year we get the same responses from both parents and students “This was a great event, my child had a great time, they had sleepovers and really enjoyed doing this assignment.” http://www.emmausarts.org/

October 8th is the Scariest Day of the Year

Well the day is upon us when high school and middle school students compete for cash and prizes creating the best horror film for our 5th Annual event. The event is 96-hours and only the strong will survive. BAVT will be defending their 1st place finish along with Lower Macungie Middle School; can another school surface and dethrone the champions? I would like to thank all the special donations we received from Altered Nightmares, Fangoria magazine, Metromix, Moviemaker magazine, Just Born, and our major sponsors. If you know of any high school or middle school that would like to participate go to www.emmausarts.org for more info.

Student Horror Film Festival Lehigh Valley

October 8th at 6:00 pm is the beginning of the 5th Annual Student Horror Film Festival. Open to all High School and Middle Schools in the Lehigh Valley and beyond, that compete for cash and prizes. This is a contest that will test your will and abilities since you only have 96 hours to complete the task. Last year LMMS won the middle school division and is returning to defend it along with Bethlehem Area Vo-Tech to defend their High School division.

If you love film, movie making and think you have what it takes to compete then sign up now. The rules and regulations will be posted Thursday October 8th at 6:00 pm on our website http://www.emmausarts.org/ScaryMovieContest.html and see last year’s winners.

5th Annual Student Horror Film Festival is Ready to Scare

The 2009 Student Horror Film Festival will begin on October 8th at 6:00 pm. This is an OPEN competition for all High School and Middle School students in the entire world. The rules and regulations for the 2009 festival will be posted online for anyone who cannot attend the kickoff meeting. The kickoff meeting will take place at Borough Hall, 28 South 4th St, Emmaus. At that time contestant will pay for the contest, receive a 30 minute introduction to the rules and regulations and give tips and tricks to compete. If you choose to sign up for the festival online you must email us to lets us know you are in the festival. You must deliver your finished films to us by 6:00 October 13th.

It will remain a 96-hour event, where students have just 96-hours to create, edit, shoot and deliver a less than 6 minute horror film. Winners in each category will receive $150.00 per team. Prizes will also be awarded in best editing, best use of required materials and best cinematography. The final films will be shown at the Eyer Middle School in Macungie on October 24th at 4:00 pm. Visit www.emmausarts.org for more information.

Emmaus Wildlife Arts Festival

Join Us For The Lehigh Valley's First Wildlife Art Festival
- Conserving Our Natural Resources Through The Arts-
Saturday, September 12, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Rain or Shine)
A collaboration between the Wildlands Conservancy, Museum of Indian Culture and the Emmaus Arts Commission will showcase Emmaus’ rich heritage while highlighting the Lehigh Valley’s award-winning nature and wildlife artists, environmental groups and animal preservation officers.

This inaugural event will be held on Saturday, September 12, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (rain or shine) and coincides with several other events in Emmaus for Heritage Days. A free trolley will transport visitors to and from other Emmaus historical locations including Emmaus Moravian Church, Emmaus Historical Society, Shelter House, God’s Acre Cemetery, 1803 House, Knauss Homestead and Wildlands Conservancy.

Visitors will see works from truly accomplished craftsmen and fine artisans who will certainly create a wonderful experience for you and your family. World and nationally renowned artists include Tom Ahern, Val Bertoia and Dan Christi. Many participating artists will be selling their unique and original work in metal, acrylic, oil, watercolor and landscape photography.
Supporting events include demonstrations on tomahawk and atlatl (stick) throwing, primitive pottery and firemaking, bead loom work, quill working, sweet grass basketry, and wildlife carving. Special displays include artifacts, American Indian culture, and live animal encounters with owls, skunk, turtles and snakes. There will be many activities for young and old. Face painting, guided trail hikes, and fly fishing instruction will assure a great day for families, children and wildlife art collectors.

“The combination of the traditions of environmental stewardship, Indian culture and art in Emmaus,” said Emmaus Arts Commission President Bob Boehmer, “make the Wildlife Art Festival a unique and compelling venue in the Lehigh Valley.”

This event is free to the public. For more information please visit the Emmaus Arts Commission Web site at www.emmausarts.org.

Busy in Emmaus

The Emmaus Arts Commission is busy planning several events for the September and October months. All of our events are open to the public. The events for 2009 are:

• 1st Annual Wildlife Art Festival - September 12th - The Emmaus Arts Commission in coordination with the Poole Wildlife Sanctuary and the Museum of Indian Culture invite you to enjoy old time Emmaus. Wander through the Wildlife Sanctuary while experiencing authentic Indian crafts and fabulous wildlife art at a juried show sponsored by the Emmaus Arts Commission.
• Student Horror Film Festival - 5th annual event begins October 8th and is open to any middle school and high school student.
• Boos and Brews - 2nd Annual Halloween party with a twist. Sample several micro-breweries and dance the night away with or without a costume.

For more information on these events go to www.emmausarts.org.

Soaring Into Creativity – Space Shuttle Replica Blake

Soaring Into Creativity – Space Shuttle Replica Blake
Sponsored by the Emmaus Arts Commission

Emmaus, PA (July 13, 2009) --- The Space Shuttle Blake is a unique mobile simulator and was the creative brainchild of Emmaus Arts Commission President Bob Boehmer. Modeled after the NASA Challenger Space Shuttle this half scale replica, Blake is carrying the 1959 Emmaus Time Capsule from the past through the present and into the future.

Co-Commander on the Soaring Into Creativity Mission is honored guest Astronaut Terry Hart. Professor Hart lived in the Lehigh Valley during his college years at Lehigh University and was a Mission Specialist on Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984.

The Blake Shuttle had its inception with Boehmer’s application to NASA’s Teacher in Space Mission. Over the course of 6 -1/2½ years and with the aid of many corporate sponsors, a scrapped Marine Corps bus was transformed into a state-of-the-art space classroom on wheels. In 1995 The Blake received an honorary commission in Washington D.C. Over 4,000 students per year visit the Blake. Parkland students as well as children from other school districts in Grades K, 3, 5, and 7 visit the Blake and participate in interactive, hands-on missions that are correlated to PA Standards and the science curriculum for those grade levels. The Blake has also been driven to other locations, including Penn State, Lehigh, and Kutztown Universities.

As the sponsor of Blake, Emmaus Arts Commission members are wearing a unique “mission patch” T-Shirt designed by Jeff Shubzda. The patch shows the inspiration that science and technology has on creativity!

Blake will be landing at the Emmaus Community Park after the 2009 Emmaus Anniversary Celebration Parade where visitors may tour the Shuttle. Members of the Emmaus Arts Committee will be providing hands-on out of this world outer space art related activities … helping the kids to SOAR INTO CREATIVITY! For more information on the Emmaus Arts Commission and the creative events they sponsor, folks can visit http://www.emmausarts.org/.

Economy Scares Away Sponsors for Student Film Festival

The Emmaus Arts Commission is in a desperate situation regarding our 5th Annual Student Horror film Festival. Our major sponsors have pulled out of our festival for financial reasons and have left us without a sponsor for our event. This will hopefully be our 5th year for the festival but without any sponsors the festival is in jeopardy of being cancelled. This is an event that the kids of the Lehigh Valley really enjoy, they get to be creative, reinforces teamwork, and understanding of deadlines.

We really need your help, if you would like to become a sponsor of our event or know of someone who might please contact us at http://emmausarts.org/ScaryMovieContest.html

5th Annual Student Horror Film Festival

This year will be our 5th year for our Student Horror Film Festival Contest. Teams again will have only 96 hours to create, edit and deliver a less than 6-minute film. We are excited for this years event and hope to have more teams in the Lehigh Valley and beyond competing. Schools with visual communciation departments are welcome. Films are then judged and the winning or selected films are shown infront of a live audiance and then posted to our YouTube site. Our categories this year will be middle school and high school. For reasons unknown to us college students don't seem to want to be bothered with our event or the cash prize? So we have removed the college category unless we have other people or teams who will be participating.

Welcome 2009 - challange for our arts commission

Well the economy is very tight right now and the ones who will suffer will be the non-profit organizations who rely on sponsorship donations to conduct their events. Our organization is no exception; we have found it already difficult to find any sponsors for our upcoming Snowblast Winter festival. This year we have several events planned and will require local and community support for all of them. All of our events take place in Emmaus. The events are as followed:
· Snowblast Winter Festival – Feb. 7-8th
· Art in the Garden – TBD
· Wildlife Art Festival – Sept. 12
· 5th Annual Student Horror Film Festival

If any of these events interest you, or you would like to become a part of an event please visit our website for more information.