I’m happy to report that the Fazzino Arts Education Initiative is back in action! Next Monday, my staff and I will be visiting The Edgemont School District in Scarsdale, NY to conduct a master class interactive workshop. We’ll be working with the kids to create a collaborative, New York City-themed, 3D artwork. The finished piece will be unveiled at my studio later in March, when we host a reception and private studio tour for members of the Edgemont Community. We’ll also be donating the finished work to the Edgemont PTA to auction at their Spring Fete in April.
I’ve talked a lot on this blog about the importance of arts education in our school and i’ll take this opportunity to do so again. The last time was when i was working on projects with the kids in Fort Lauderdale at Stranahan High School and Fort Lauderdale High School. I am a strong believer that we cannot abandon the arts …. even as school budgets continue to take a beating and all talk is centered on the economy. Well…arts education falls in the realm of training for our workforce. We need education…all kinds of education…to lift ourselves and our kids out of the doldrums we’re in. We need innovation and creativity and ideas and work ethic. There’s a whole population of children who are creative thinkers rather than analytical thinkers and we NEED what they have to offer our society. We need to nurture that creativity.
I was one of those kids. Without art in my school, i would have been lost. I am grateful to everyone in school who supported me and encouraged my art. Even back then, it was important to me to feel like i was contributing something of value. If not for those years of painting and drawing and showing my art in high school, i don’t know where i would have ended up.
I’m looking forward to once again collaborating with a great group of students. It will be exciting to see what we come up with and i’ll be sure to post pictures next week.
