3 Mountain Brook students pursue their artistic dreams at ASFA

Three students from Mountain Brook were accepted to the Alabama School of Fine Arts downtown for the 2020-21 school year.

Clementine Clingan will study creative writing, Margaret Bearden will study music and Polly Upton is pursuing theater arts.

The three are among 100 Alabama students accepted this year into the state’s only pre-professional and college preparatory arts and science program for middle and high school students, according to Jaronda Little, the school’s outreach and admissions officer.

The students are excited to be part of this special creative community.

Clingan is “excited to be around people that share my love and passion for the arts.

“I enjoy writing because it’s a way to express myself and let my imagination run wild,” Clingan said regarding her chosen discipline. “It’s also a way to add something to the world.”

“Being at ASFA encourages me to become the best pianist I can be,” Bearden said. “The curriculum for academics and music is very challenging, and makes me both a better student and person.

“Music has always been a passion of mine,” said Bearden, who began training as a classical pianist at the age of 7, singing in the Advent Episcopal School Choral Ensemble, playing the ukulele and cello and writing and composing her own pieces.

“Attending ASFA enables me to spend the time necessary to focus on music, and more specifically the piano, with a like-minded community, while excelling in academics as well,” she said.

Upton has performed locally for a few years and has been “obsessed with musical theater for a long time,” she said.

“I’ve also taken film acting lessons before, and found that I have an interest there as well, which helped me solidify the fact that I wanted to study more kinds of acting,” Upton said.

At press time, classes at ASFA were being held online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the Mountain Brook students said they were having a good time.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Bearden’s “experience at ASFA has been extremely edifying,” she said. “The ASFA community is continuously inspiring me to improve myself, to think creatively and reach my highest potential.”

“My teachers are super nice, as well as very understanding and accepting, and that has definitely helped improve my time at the school so far,” Upton said. “My classmates are also, for the most part, amazing, focused and accepting as well, which is understandable seeing as we all had to work hard to get into the school, and would obviously have to care quite a bit.”

All three students believe that they will grow as artists during their time at ASFA.

In fact, in the short time she’s been at ASFA, Bearden has “already experienced tremendous growth,” she said.

“Being part of a collaborative group with supportive teachers pushes me to strive for excellence and holds me accountable,” she said.

“I will have an opportunity to learn from my peers as well as from fantastic teachers in my field,” Clingan said.

“I do hope that I’ll grow and develop as an artist in my time at this school, and seeing as I’ve already learned a lot, I bet I will,” Upton said.

ASFA currently has 345 students who spend three hours of study daily in one of six specialty areas: creative writing, dance, math and science, music, theater arts or visual arts.

The school is tuition-free and has a 100% graduation rate.

For more information, go to asfaschool.org.