Fan of the Arts Blog
There are many exciting creative things happening in our community everyday!
This blog will serve as an immediate link between us and our community as we relay announcements, stories, thoughts and events happening within arts and music education.
We love suggestions! If you'd like to see us highlight someone or something enhancing art and music education, please let us know!
Leland Ko Coming to Florida this February! 🎻 🌟
Celebrated cellist and recent Naumburg International Award winner Leland Ko is set to embark on a three-city Florida tour this February, combining virtuosic performances with educational opportunities for aspiring musicians.
Award-Winning Cellist Leland Ko Brings Musical Excellence to Florida
Celebrated cellist and recent Naumburg International Award winner Leland Ko is set to embark on a three-city Florida tour this February, combining virtuosic performances with educational opportunities for aspiring musicians.
The tour will feature both concert performances and master classes in Maitland (February 21), Gainesville (February 22), and Jacksonville (February 23), offering audiences and students alike the chance to experience Ko's remarkable artistry and teaching expertise. 🗓️
Ko, whose recent Naumburg International Award win places him among classical music's most promising young talents, has earned recognition for his compelling interpretations and technical mastery. His approach to performance combines deep musical insight with a natural ability to connect with audiences of all backgrounds.
““The master classes are particularly exciting because they allow for direct interaction with students. It’s rare to have an artist of this caliber spending dedicated time with our local music community.””
The Florida tour is presented through collaboration between several prominent music organizations, including the Florida Federation of Music Clubs and the National Federation of Music Clubs, highlighting their commitment to bringing world-class classical music experiences to local communities. ⭐️
Event Details:
Maitland Performance: Friday, February 21
Gainesville Performance: Saturday, February 22
Jacksonville Performance: Sunday, February 23
Information about venues, times, and registration, will be announced in the near future.
Howard Bishop MS Band Strikes a Chord of Generosity: A Heartfelt Thank You 🎶
Earlier this Spring FEA Inc. received a “Big Check” from Howard Bishop Middle School! 🎉 We would like to close March by expressing a heartfelt THANK YOU to the amazing students of Howard Bishop Middle School Band! Your generous donation from the concert/fundraiser means the world to us at FEA. We're deeply touched by your kindness and support. 😊 Your dedication to making a difference truly inspires us and brings smiles all around! We thank Amy Beres and all of the outstanding students who made this possible! 🌟
We not only receive your donation, but also your kindness, generosity, and willingness to support the community and make our world a better place.
Art Exhibit: Celebrating Student Artists & Local Mentor Artists!
Hello to all! We hope everyone had warm and wonderful holidays so far.
We are preparing to start the new year off right by announcing our Student Artist Exhibition!
Each year the Friends of Elementary Art’s Board of Directors organizes an exhibition event dedicated to student artists, which directly benefits arts and music education programs in the Alachua County School District. Every year, our community wholeheartedly embraces this cause by generously contributing time and funds at the GFAA Gallery, and each year, we are so grateful for your consistent support.
“The spirit of our community and each act of contribution is a brushstroke that paints a brighter future for creativity, reminding us that together, we can accomplish anything.”
Due to previous fundraising success, FEA has been able to provide resources such as educational art and music field trips. To celebrate the heart of this exhibition - the students - we decided to make our exhibit event an experience that really highlights all of our young talent and the local artists that liven the fine art community!
For this year’s Student Exhibition, FEA is collaborating with the GFAA Gallery to sponsor an art show for your elementary students. This upcoming Art Exhibition Event: Celebrating Student Artists and Local Mentor Artists will feature the pieces and works from 25 local artists and 25 original art pieces created by students from 25 different Alachua County Public Schools!
We are so excited to showcase all of these amazing art pieces! Keep up with our latest updates on the exhibition on our Facebook or Instagram.
For any inquiries please email friendsofelementaryarts@gmail.com.
Funding Opportunities Available This 2023-24 School Year
This year, Friends of Elementary Arts, Inc. is able to provide funding to all Alachua County Public Charter schools! We are so thrilled to be able to fund field trip expenses for elementary schools across the county. It is our special privilege to be able to help students experience a rich, fulfilling outlook on the arts.
This grant funding will provide a means for students to see live performances at locations such as the Star Centre Theatre and the UF Phillips Center for Performing Arts, or visit exciting places like the Appleton and Harn Museums!
The transportation fund also covers any transportation costs for all SBAC elementary art and music teachers on a “first come, first served” basis! You can contact Diana Rollo at rollod@gm.sbac.edu for more information regarding this fund.*
*Be sure to CC us in the email so we can ensure timely responses: friendsofelementaryarts@gmail.com
“It is our special privilege to be able to help students experience a rich, fulfilling outlook of the arts. ”
Feel free to share these with fellow educators and administrators!
We Care About Our Students
An artistic adventure at the Appleton Museum brings an air of excitement to the Caring and Sharing Learning School students!
On February 17, 2023, Caring and Sharing Learning School’s 5th-grade class took a field trip to the Appleton Museum in Ocala. Friends of Elementary Arts provided an outreach grant to the school in order to help students gain great experiences and exposure to the arts. The school was so kind in sending us a thank you note in response! We are glad to hear how much of a wonderful time the students had and how an appreciation for the arts can foster so much community and happiness.
We are so honored to have been able to collaborate with the Caring and Sharing Learning School. We wish the best for the students and faculty!
Outreach Expansion Project 🥳
Our Board has been hard at work this summer to conceive new ways to assist our community of art and music teachers. We’re happy to announce that as of today, we are expanding our field trip program to include charter schools and nonprofit groups that promote educational arts programs as part of our Outreach Expansion Project.
Taking effect for the 2022-23 school year, eligible schools and groups can receive support from our grant funding and attend live cultural events as we strive to encourage further exploration of art and music for our Alachua County youth.
Application to the grant has been sent to the following schools and non-profit organizations serving elementary students:
Elementary Charter Schools:
Alachua Learning Center, Boulware Springs, Caring and Sharing Learning School, Te Einstein School, Expressions Learning Arts Academy, Healthy Learning Academy, Micanopy Area Cooperative School, One Room School House Project
Other Non Profits:
YMCA, Boys/Girls Club, Cultural Arts Coalition
More details to come!
HS Marching Bands are on the Move 🚌
While we unfortunately don’t have any Magic School Buses, we do have a few music school buses 🎶
September through October, high school marching band students from across the county went back in time to perform at elementary schools for their students!
Equal parts education and fun, these trips are helping young students see the potential impact pursuing the musical arts could have on their futures, and in turn, high school students get to see their years of training and hard work become an inspiration for others. The band directors are thrilled, the students are excited and FEA is so proud to support this endeavor by providing the bus transportation for our high school bands — and we couldn’t have done that without the help of you all.
… They might be magic buses after all 💫
Linda's Art Shop is OPEN again 🪩
Every year our Managing Art Coordinator, Linda Henderson, organizes a working art day for all the talented artists that make our Musical Chairs Auction event an actual event! To support the new Children Art Show, Friends of Elementary Arts is asking artists to create small works that will become the cover of a sketchbook for the exhibiting students this year. After the close of the show, each participating student will receive their framed art, art supplies and a sketchbook, featuring an original work by our local artists.
Below are some of the artists’ results from her first studio event!
Thank you again for everyone who donated their time, funds and creativity for this amazing exhibition.
We can’t wait to see what comes out of the shop 👀
FEA Annual Musical Chairs Fundraiser: An Update
Hello there, FEA Family!
Hope you all are returning back to a bit of normalcy after braving Hurricane Ian heading — sending prayers and support to everyone affected!
As many of you know, each year the Friends of Elementary Art’s Board of Directors organize an auction event to fund our endowment for elementary arts and music education programs in the Alachua County School District. Each year, our community comes out in spectacular fashion to champion this initiative through time and funds at the GFAA Gallery, and each year, we are so grateful for your consistent support.
Because of your support, we were able to reach our endowment fund goal of $100,000 to support elementary art and music programs!
The endowment will continue to support fine arts and performance enrichment activities for elementary students in our community. These activities and opportunities include — but are not limited to — educational art and music field trips not covered by tax dollars. To celebrate this tremendous milestone, we decided to make our 14th annual event an experience that really showcases the heart of why we do this.
In lieu of the annual Musical Chairs art auction, FEA is collaborating with the GFAA Gallery to sponsor an art show for your elementary students. This upcoming 14th Annual Musical Chairs Event: Celebrates Children will feature pieces and works created by students from elementary art schools from around the county.
In partnership with the GFAA Gallery, art teachers will submit a piece of original artwork from a student in their class. We will then display all the works together for an art show that will be a part of an opening reception during Art Walk, January 27, 2023. This show also celebrates GFAA’s 100th anniversary as an organization!
More entry details to come soon! We can’t wait to see what the kids dream up 🎨
We Love Arts & Music Teachers
So much so that Friends of Elementary Arts donated $100 to every elementary art and music teacher in Alachua County Public Schools. The gift represents the ongoing support of insuring cultural arts experiences for elementary students even in this unprecedented pandemic.
And we thank all of YOU for helping us share this gift with our community! Your generous support over the years, at each event, enables us to give back to the arts and music programs for elementary schools and supports our mission to ensure a creative education is a part of a total education for our children.
Smoky Mountain
The word "stunning" comes to mind when we see "Smoky Mountain" by Alfred Phillips. View it online at www.betterunite.com/fearts or get the full effect in-person at the GFAA Gallery!
House Earrings
Made with onyx, coral, sterling, copper and patina, these "House Earrings" by Brian Moody are sure to make you (or your Valentine) very happy while at home.❤️ Place a bid for them at www.betterunite.com/fearts!
Take your pick!
Stay awhile and grab a seat!
Head to the GFAA Gallery to view these pieces in-person or visit them from the comfort of your home at www.betterunite.com/fearts!
It's "A New Year"
"I wanted this piece to reflect my excitement for the New Year."
Read more about Sonny's artistic process (and place a bid!) for this cigar box by visiting www.betterunite.com, clicking on the fundraiser and then clicking the red "Auction" button!
Join Us: Steps to the 12th Annual Musical Chairs Fundraiser
Hello Friends!
We realize there’s been some miscommunication, broken links and a few other kinks during the launch of our new virtual, silent auction. We apologize for any confusion and so appreciate your patience and support as we learn together how to best explain this process.
Since we’re artists, we thought pictures would work best!
The infographic below gives a quick step-by-step guide to viewing and bidding on our auction!
For further details, you can view walkthrough videos by our Digital Specialist, Tatyana Mann detailing the steps here and here.
We’ll send out a second email soon with these steps as well — Happy Bidding: www.betterunite.com/fearts!
A new decade of fun!
Hello Friends: Welcome to a new decade!
We are so excited to see you all here in 2020, and are equally excited for the 11th Annual Musical Chairs Fundraiser & Auction. As always, the fundraiser is a main fundraising event for Friends of Elementary Arts, as proceeds go to our endowment that we then use to help support the music and art initiatives across Alachua County elementary schools. We’d love to have you come out and support!
We’ll be posting photos of some of the artwork that will be available below, as continue to update the items on our Facebook page.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
WE Did It !
On October 1, 2019, Friends of Elementary Arts, Inc. established a $100,000 endowment fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida. This amazing news marks the milestone achievement of FEA reaching our long-term goal, and we thank our community, profusely!
Interest from this fund will insure in perpetuity the ability to support elementary art and music programs in the Alachua County Public Schools that are not covered by tax dollars.
Thank You again! We couldn’t have done this without your continued support !
Why We Give
“Instead of taking away, more (fine arts) classes should be added.
”
In 2008, the State of Florida and Alachua County Public Schools reduced budgets, causing a 50% decline in funding for elementary art and music programs in Alachua County public schools.
In response, a community rallied behind a grass-roots effort to keep elementary arts and music programs in Alachua County public school curriculums–raising $90,000.00 within two weeks.
The funds were deposited with the Community Foundation of North Central Florida–known then as the Gainesville Community Foundation–and an advisory board was created.
On June 15 2012, that advisory board created the Friends of Elementary Arts, Inc.
From our inception to today, Friends of Elementary Arts gives for the sole purpose of having elementary arts and music education as a part of a complete education for Alachua County elementary students.
Below are a few clippings that were our call to action–click on any of them to be redirected to their original posting for further reading!
We hope they speak to you today as much as they did to us 10 years ago.
We Give Better, Together!
Hi Friends!
If you haven’t already, fairly soon you will be receiving an email from one of our Board Members and Friends, asking you to #DoSomethingAmazing this March for our Amazing Give Initiative.
Be on the look out for one of these fan mails in an email near you and be sure to share them with your Friends! You can also see all our activity and more of our mission in action on our Giving Page and Facebook Page.
And keep sending us your “Why I Give” testimonials–we love your feedback and hearing all the amazing ways arts and music education has shaped your life!
As always Thank You for your support. We can’t wait to give together!
We love Fundraising, yes we do! We love Fundraising–how about you?
We love the Amazing Give.
Hosted by the Community Foundation of North Central Florida and powered by the GiveGab Nonprofit Giving Platform, we have been a part of the Amazing Give for the past 3 years, each year more invaluable than the last.
And for the past 10 years that we have fundraised for elementary arts and music education, we learned an important lesson:
Fundraising is very hard. In fact, it can be tricky.
Typically, most people like their money. Honestly, we like ours too!
But we also like seeing our money go towards something that can cause real, effective change, a little more. And by the generous efforts you–our community–make every year, we are grateful FEA is surrounded by people who feel the same way.
So this year as you donate for Amazing Give, Friends of Elementary Arts would like to ask our visitors, promoters, and friends to share your thoughts and stories on why you are donating.
Perhaps you played an instrument that won you a scholarship?
Maybe the only thing getting you through long division was lunch–and then art class after lunch?
Was your music teacher the best educator you ever had?
We tirelessly say "we believe an arts education is a critical component of a total education, for all children," but now we'd like to hear why you all believe it too! Comment on our Facebook page, or send us your thoughts to friendsofelementaryarts@gmail.com.
All month long, we will post snippets from responses we receive, and hopefully, keep the conversation going on why everyone should be a Fan of the Arts!
Amazing Give starts soon! #DoSomethingAmazing and head over to our personal page on March 20, 2019.