GSA applicants: to be eligible for GSA 2012, you must follow all audition/review guidelines and procedures.  Click here to review general audition information, and click here to visit the Art Forms section to review how you should prepare for your specific art form’s audition/review.

Kevin Olusola, who attended Owensboro High School and recently graduated from Yale University with a degree in East Asian Studies, has won the popular NBC a cappella reality competition “The Sing-Off”.  His group, Pentatonix, performed each week since the show’s third season debut in September. They have managed to impress the expert panel of judges – including Ben Folds of the pop group Ben Folds Five, Boys II Men singer Shawn Stockman and Grammy nominated solo artist Sara Bareilles.

Olusola is passionate about his experience at GSA and says the opportunity to be among other people his age who shared his passion was inspiring.

“GSA opened my mind to other disciplines, and that has helped me so much. For example, when performing on ‘The Sing-Off,’ not only do I beat-box, but I also have to learn and understand choreography,” he said. “The staff at GSA was so encouraging, and the training and exposure to multiple art forms has been so helpful.”

When asked if there was one event or opportunity at GSA that made a significant impact, Olusola said that a master class given by musician Arturo O’Farrill offered a life-changing lesson in how to approach music.

“He told me to just play, and not to think too much. I needed to play what I felt and let the emotion take over, and let myself loose.”

Olusola, like many GSA students who may have limited access to the arts, was thrilled at the caliber of talent and the training available beyond the borders of his hometown.

Olusola and the other members of Pentatonix have won a $200,000 Sony recording contract. To read more about their victory, click here.

As for future GSA students who dream big of making it on a show watched by millions of viewers every week, Olusola has one piece of advice: “I would tell them to learn everything they can, learn from other points of view and other disciplines. They will realize just how vital other disciplines are to their craft and will help them in the future.”

Architect and craftsman, Jeff Rawlins, has a Bachelor of Architecture from Ball State University and a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He and his family reside in Louisville where his firm Architectural Artisans has been creating unique small commercial and residential projects since 1993.

Donna Sink has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Arizona and a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. In addition to masterplans building designs for schools, churches, and public institutions, Donna has designed exhibition installations at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and several fine art galleries. She has taught architecture studios at Drexel University and Philadelphia University. Donna is currently partner in a small practice in Indianapolis, IN, doing residential and light commercial work.

Mitchell L. H. Douglas is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. A Cave Canem fellow and cofounder of the Affrilachian Poets, his debut collection, Cooling Board: A Long-Playing Poem was nominated for a 2010 NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Literary Work-Poetry category.