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photo by Todd Gerber |
Friends of the Arts is entering its fourth decade of
supporting the arts for students and community of the Owen J. Roberts School
District. The organization is critical to many of the experiences Owen J.
Roberts students have in the arts. Over the years, their creative fund raising
projects, which include the annual juried Craft Show, Studio / Garden Tour and
the Holiday House Tour, have raised nearly half-a-million dollars which have
been directed toward student projects and experiences, strengthening exposure
to the arts. Their projects add value to the community as well, giving artists,
students, and residents many platforms for which they might connect and grow
through artistic expression.
In an effort to refresh its mission, Friends of the Arts
began planning a student trip with Mr. Tom Sonnenberg, district elementary art
department chair, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's largest
and finest art museums, located in New York City at the beginning of this
school year.
The trip proved to be an amazing day, Saturday, March 22, and included two busloads of special project art students from the district's five elementary schools. The Friends of the Arts provided support for students with
financial need so that every eligible child might have the opportunity to enjoy this
experience.
The most popular exhibits were
the Egyptian collection and temple, the arms and armor, and the Impressionists.
Mr. Sonnenberg said, "Three people told me that they had never been to an art museum before – so it was
especially meaningful to them. I thought about how great it is to start at the
top and how wonderful it is to share something I love with my students and students
across the district." He also credited Susan Deegan-Watson, Sarah Smith and Charlotte
Henschel for working countless hours to make the trip happen.
Mrs. Susan Deegen-Watson, whose parents were part of the founding
group who formed the Friends of the Arts, said the she had been “blessed to have
been the first class of kids in 1975 to attend a Friends of the Arts bus trip
to the Academy of Music, which made a lifelong impression on me.”