By Haleigh Miller, ’12, News Editor

The Cincinnati Fine Arts Fund will present the Get Smart About Art Festival as part of its annual Sampler Weekend from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine.

The festival is intended to showcase opportunities for arts education in Cincinnati, and features live performances from many local artists. Participating groups include the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.

The Fine Arts Fund Sampler Weekend encourages people to sample the arts through free events staged throughout the region. The festival is geared toward younger people interested in the arts and serves as a well-rounded experience for students to experiment with or examine many different art forms, including music, live performances, crafts, and games in one central location.

A new component of the festival that focuses on Middle and Upper School students is STUDIO 2010, “a creative space exclusively for Grades 6-12 that will feature performances of hip-hop, spoken word, Shakespeare, and more,” said Ms. Siobhan Lau, an intern with the Fine Arts Fund.

The goal of STUDIO 2010 is to allow students to experience different art forms.  Lau described the program as “a really unique way for students to connect to the arts while meeting other teens throughout the region.”