The Surry Arts Council will be hosting its annual Arts Ball later this month, featuring a silent auction, seated dinner, and dancing to the live music of the Band of Oz.
As an extra treat, those attending the celebration will have a chance to meet and talk with local school administrators, who will be on hand to great guests. All of the proceeds from the Arts Ball are used to fund free cultural arts programs for 25 area schools including all Surry County and Mount Airy City schools and Millennium Charter Academy.
The gala, set for Friday, Feb. 18 at Cross Creek Country Club, will include a Mardi Gras theme, carried out throughout the club with table decorations, booklets, and throughout the silent auction.
Melissa Sumner is coordinating the Arts Ball and working with volunteers from each of the schools as well as Surry Arts Council board members and others. The gathering will once again feature passed hors d’oeuvres and soup, followed by a seated dinner.
The fundraising goal this year is $25,000. Items available through the auction range from tickets to gift cards to household items to purses and jewelry.
“The community has been generous with donations that everyone will want,” the arts council said of the more than 300 items to be auctioned.
Hollie Lyons, communications coordinator for Surry County Schools; Carrie Venable, executive officer of communications for Mount Airy City Schools; and T.J. Lievsay, art, music and theater teacher at Millennium Charter Academy, are serving as liasons from their respective schools. Other committee members include Ashley Mills, Jennie Lowry, Gaye Cooke, Ginny Adams, Brooke Lowry, Meredith Simmons, and Nicole Harrison.
All of the schools are participating with both donations and attendance. Surry Arts Council Board members, school personnel, and dozens of volunteers are working to organize the event, sell tickets, and ensure that the arts remain a part of area school programming.
Thousands of students have enjoyed arts programming already this year. In addition to directly paying for arts programs, the Arts Ball proceeds leverage grants from the North Carolina Arts Council and South Arts.
The TAPS grant provides support for several hundred students to have a hands-on experience with traditional stringed instruments. Jim Vipperman spends a week in each of three schools introducing students to fiddles, guitars, and Surry County’s traditional music heritage. Students are then able to attend the weekly free year-round lessons at the Historic Earle Theatre every Thursday afternoon if they wish to continue lessons.
Other cultural arts programs provided during the current year include two school performances of The Nutcracker, performed by Ballet for Young Audiences, with over more than 700 students attending; more than 700 students enjoyed performances of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever performed by the Surry Arts Players at the Andy Griffith Playhouse; and another 1,050 K-2 students were bused to Pout Pout Fish, performed by Theatreworks USA, a professional touring company.
Another group of 1,050 students will see Rosie Revere, Engineer, a production of the Virginia Repertory Theatre. Virginia Reportory Theatre will also present Have You Filled A Bucket Today for area students. Seussical JR will be performed by the Surry Arts Players for 700 students. A Black History musical performance by Sons of Mystro will be held at the Earle Theatre reaching more than 400 students. This performance is funded in part by a grant from South Arts.
Mike Wiley will be featured in four performances of Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart and this will be performed for more than 2,000 students. The Surry Arts Film Festival for Surry County High School and Surry Community College Students will again be hosted at the Earle Theatre and students will have the opportunity to see their work shown in a movie theatre setting.
Multiple monthly free movies at the Earle have already been enjoyed by more than 3,000 students and more monthly opportunities are upcoming.
Additional programs that target students with special challenges are sponsored in part by the United Fund of Surry coupled with Surry Arts Council support. Arts programs funded by the Arts Ball result in more than 15,000 student contacts during this school year. In addition to students receiving programs in their own schools and having the opportunity to bus to the Blackmon Amphitheatre, the Historic Earle Theatre, and the Andy Griffith Playhouse, students also have field trips to these venues Andy Griffith Museum, the Old-Time Music Heritage Hall, and the Siamese Twins Exhibit at no cost. These field trips include guided tours, scavenger hunts, and music. Arts Council venues are used by the schools for holiday and year end choral and band programs at no cost to the schools.
The arts council works with schools to host interns and to provide art instruction in both in-school and after school programs along with many other partnerships.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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