The Hunterdon County (NJ) Teen Arts Festival is coordinated through a partnership between the Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission, the Hunterdon County Library, the Hunterdon County 4H, Hunterdon County schools, and Hunterdon County nonprofit arts organizations. Open to all 13 to 19-year old students who attend school in Hunterdon County, NJ, this event provides a forum for students to showcase their talents through exhibitions of visual art, theatrical presentations, dance, vocal and instrumental music performances, and presentations original film and creative writing. Students experience the work of their peers and receive constructive feedback from professional artists. This project is made possible with funds from the Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Lauren Muney will be cutting silhouettes freehand for festival participants, and discussing the impact of this democratizing portrait form on early Americans. The 250th anniversary of the USA will be well-represented in this historical trade, which dates back to the earliest years of the nation!

Lauren Muney “Silhouettes By Hand”, of Baltimore MD, is one of the few people in the world cutting silhouette portraits freehand. Using only paper and scissors— no drawing in advance, using any shadow or machinery— she creates the silhouette in mere moments, just as they have been cut for hundreds of years. Experience a portrait as would have been done before photography was invented! Have you been curious what life was like during the Revolutionary era? Your portrait will show your revolutionary self.