{"id":11924,"date":"2019-08-16T18:18:51","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=11924"},"modified":"2019-08-16T18:18:51","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:18:51","slug":"luke-mauldin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/16\/luke-mauldin\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Mauldin"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jesse Cole<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Luke Mauldin. Photo credit: Melodie Mauldin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a time of increased emphasis on STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] and its career paths, Luke Mauldin is an unabashed lover of the arts. At just 15 years of age, Mauldin pursues this passion through whatever means he can, splitting his time between singing, acting and drawing, both in and out of the classroom.<\/p>\n

As a sophomore at Wood River High School carrying a 3.5 grade point average, Mauldin\u2019s schedule is replete with opportunities to hone his technique as he takes classes in choir and art in addition to biology and geometry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in choir since eighth grade, and I\u2019ve loved singing for as long as I can remember,\u201d Mauldin said. \u201cBoth my mom and dad are actors and they do a lot of musical theater, so it\u2019s always been in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a father trained in classic opera and a mother committed to acting, Mauldin certainly grew up in an environment that encouraged his artistic inclinations. In addition to singing, he began his acting career at a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first production was when I was seven, and I was in The Music Man at the nexStage Theatre,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was my first production\u2014I was Winthrop\u2014and I\u2019ve been doing it ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Mauldin\u2019s repertoire has grown significantly. This summer alone he just completed a read-through of Fiddler on the Roof with St. Thomas Playhouse, and he is looking to audition for a production of Cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoy the musical theater aspect,\u201d Mauldin said. \u201cYou get to let go and just get into a rhythm a lot. I really enjoy that it\u2019s all part of a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mauldin\u2019s love of art stretches beyond traditional forms of drawing and acting to the undeniably modern. Like most teenage boys, he enjoys video games\u2014but for an entirely different appeal than the simple act of playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cVideo games are art,\u201d Mauldin said. \u201cThey\u2019re just moving art that you get to control a part of. Animators are artists creating different worlds, which interests me so much. That would be one of my dream jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the medium, Mauldin\u2019s attitude has crystallized as he has found his community of genuine art lovers in the Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arts are important, and they\u2019ve taught me that, more than anything, what\u2019s important is being who you are and letting go of anything that isn\u2019t you,\u201d Mauldin said.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Anyone who would like to recommend a Blaine County School District student for The Weekly Sun\u2019s \u201cStudent Spotlight\u201d feature should contact The Weekly Sun at
\nnews@theweeklysun.com.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jesse Cole In a time of increased emphasis on STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] and its career paths, Luke Mauldin is an unabashed lover of the arts. At just 15 years of age, Mauldin pursues this passion through whatever means he can, splitting his time between singing, acting and drawing, both in and out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11924","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sponsored","8":"category-student-spotlight"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}