Arts Council raises money for classroom programs
Residents will have a chance to have some fun while supporting
the local Artists in the Schools program April 29 at San Juan Oaks
Golf Club.
Tickets for the Celebration for the Arts are $50 each and
include wine tasting, heavy hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and
entertainment.
Arts Council raises money for classroom programs
Residents will have a chance to have some fun while supporting the local Artists in the Schools program April 29 at San Juan Oaks Golf Club.
Tickets for the Celebration for the Arts are $50 each and include wine tasting, heavy hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and entertainment.
For the third year in a row the San Benito County Arts Council will be hosting a concert for the arts as the primary fundraiser for the classroom art programs it supports. The headliner is Julio Bravo y Su Orquesta Salsabor, an 11-piece salsa orchestra, and the event is from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“They are very popular,” said Jennifer Laine, the executive director of the Arts Council, of the San Jose-based band. “They play all the big salsa clubs.”
Guests will even get a short salsa lesson from a pair of ballroom dancers before the band takes the stage. Opening acts will include a taste of some of the performers who visit local schools for arts assemblies. They include El Teatro Campesino, Zun Zun and the San Benito High School Jazz Band.
West Coast Dance FX is offered salsa dance lessons this month for residents who really want to prepare for the dancing part of the evening. Starting April 9, they launched two sessions of ballroom dancing. Residents can still drop in for $15 a person, April 23 and 30, from 5 to 5:45 p.m.
Laine said the classroom programs get funding from the California Arts Council and the Community Foundation for San Benito County. Launched this year, the Arts Council has created the Arts in Education sponsorship, in which local businesses can donate to support the programs. But the annual fundraiser is essential to fill in the $38,000 program budget.
“We have a wide range of sponsors,” Laine said, of the event. “We have a very art-filled program.”
This year marks the third year the Arts Council is hosting a concert. The first year it featured a jazz band, and last year it featured a “Beatles” cover band. When looking for a musical genre this year, Laine said she was looking for something that would be fun and might appeal to a younger audience as well as older residents.
“We really wanted to focus on the fund for the arts in education and we thought what would be fun for the parents of the students,” Laine said. “The benefit can be a fun night out for people in San Benito County.”
The silent auction will feature original artwork as well as other packages such as a week’s stay at a Mexican resort or a wellness package with massages.
“It’s all donated,” Laine said. “We have more than 30 packages.”
The Artists in the Schools program runs with the school year and serves more than a dozen San Benito County schools. The programs range from in-depth residencies at some schools where artists visit the classroom once a week for a 12-week lesson on art history to shorter residencies with artists. They also provide funding for assemblies in which artists perform for larger groups of students. Some of those who have visited have been Zun Zun, an internationally-known drum percussion theater that teaches kids about the culture of South America, and San Jose Taiko, a Japanese drum ensemble. Other schools have had hip-hop dance lessons.
Laine said in the rural schools, Bitterwater, Jefferson and Panoche, they will have a two-day art workshop at Pinnacles National Monument as part of their science camp visit with local artist Shannon Grissom.
“What we’ve done is approach each school with what funding we have,” Laine said. “Some opt to do a cultural assembly to provide each student or an entire grade with some exposure.”
Other schools opt to do the in-depth residency with just one or two classes.
“The program started small,” Laine said. “We need to keep up the fundraising efforts and collaboration with schools. If we start pilot programs they can develop into something greater, if we work together with PTOs (Parent-Teacher Organizations.)”
Laine said she is continuing to look for other sources of funding, since the Artists in the Classroom program qualifies for both education and arts grants.
“I see a lot of potential with this program,” Laine said. “There are actually a couple of grants from the National Endowment we are looking at. I hope to be able to build on what we have and the funding we have so far.”
Celebration for the Arts!
Come join the San Benito County Arts Council for its third annual “Celebration for the Arts!” fundraiser April 29, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., at San Juan Oaks Golf Club. Presented by the Arts Council, in partnership with San Juan Oaks, the event will feature salsa legend Julio Bravo Y Su Orquesta Salsabor, an exciting preshow with El Teatro Campesino and ZunZun, a slient auction, hors d’oeuvres and wine tasting. Proceeds benefit the Artists in the Schools program, which brings art to more than 6,000 students in 15 elementary schools in the county. Bravo’s band of 11 dynamic musicians will perform Latino jazz, salsa, meringue and more. Tickets are $50 a person and available online at celebrationforthearts.eventbrite.com/ or through the Art’s Council website at www.sanbenitoarts.org. For more information, call Jennifer Laine at 636-2787.
