Sussex County Community College Presents 2026 Teen Arts

Michael Rhett Cuozzo

The 2026 Teen Arts Festival was held on Tuesday, March 10, at its regular location, Sussex County Community College in Newton.

According to the organizers it was the largest festival yet with 22 schools and art studios participating and more than 1,600 students and teachers attending. One of the important aspects of teen arts is the adjudication process from professional artists. Along with each piece of artwork, there were 150 adjudicated student performances, 40 hands-on workshops and demonstrations, and five student made short films. Selected works and performances advanced to the New Jersey state teen Arts Festival which is held June 1-3 at Middlesex County College in Edison.

One of this year's state finalists was a 2D project from Newton High School created by Maria Reaksa; it is a memory project for Cambodia. Other selected works were displayed at the Spring Street Art Gallery from March 13 Through May. Other selections will be featured in the 2026 edition of Sussex County Community Colleges “Idiom and Image” magazine.

According to Newton High School Art eacher Alexa Cuozzo, who along with her colleague Patty Krol, has been involved in the Teen Arts Festival for the past 17 years, “Teen Arts is an annual festival to celebrate the Arts with the county schools. It's an amazing opportunity for our best art students to be adjudicated and go on to other showcases in surrounding venues.”

The Sussex County Teen Arts Festival was established in 1969 and features students from Sussex County schools and grades 7 through 12. It receives funding from the school districts of the County as well as donations from individuals and businesses. For more information about New Jersey Teen Arts please visit their website at https://teenartsnj.org.