Wakefield Cultural Council Grant Reception

Wakefield—Our community celebrated all things art this past week. Those in attendance at the Wakefield Cultural Council Grant Reception were given a glimpse into the future of visual arts through the eyes of our young people as eleven Advanced Placement Art students who attend Wakefield High School displayed various works for the A.P. Art Gallery Show. The visual pieces demonstrate breadth, quality and the ability to relate various pieces to one central concentration or idea.

While guests strolled among the visual art displays, Mike Salvatore played the recently and vibrantly painted public piano, which was painted by the talented Jessica Anderson and now resides within the Albion Cultural Exchange, accompanied by Caroline Lieber on violin. The visual art and live music, along with a splash of fresh flowers and a delicious spread of food from Zuzu’s Cafe, satisfied all the senses while serving as an example of why people are drawn to art in its many forms and rewarded with a feeling of fulfillment that can only be felt as a result of creative collaboration.

The purpose of the Wakefield Cultural Council is to support public programs that promote access, education, diversity, and excellence in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in our community. We thank the following groups and individuals who received grants through the WCC for their efforts in creating a healthy local arts scene: Middlesex Concert Band for The People of Music, Temple Emmanuel for Journeys, Dolbeare Elementary School for Theatreworks USA "Miss Nelson Is Missing," Beebe Library for Plaza Jazz, Trudy Conley for MythMasters Tales From Greek Mythology, Lindentree Coffeehouse for Welcoming New Music to Wakefield, Delvena Theatre Company for Murder a La Carte at the Senior Center, Joy Schilling for Arts Collaborative of Wakefield website and domain, Polymnia Choral Society for A German Requiem—Brahms, North Suburban Child & Family Resource Network for Sing! Play! Grow! Family Concert, Wakefield High School Theater Arts for WHS Theater Arts 2016-2017 Programming, and the Wakefield Historical Society for Restoration of Historic Painting by Local Artist.

We are proud, here in Wakefield, to have such a diverse group of volunteers that form our local council which speaks directly to the diversity of artists residing in our town. We thank Mike Salvatore, who is outgoing chair for the WCC and has been instrumental in helping to bring the arts into focus for Wakefield as a community. Mike teaches music and is Chair of the Arts Department at The Fenn School in Concord, MA and is Organist and Director of Music at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Wakefield. AnnMarie Galivan is newly elected to chair the council. AnneMarie is a visual artist with a passion for mixed media. She is the owner of Create Artisan Studio and is a member of the Arts Collaborative of Wakefield. In addition to Mike and AnnMarie the group is made up of four additional members.

Joy Schilling is a well-known art educator at Wakefield High School who provides students with a strong foundation and the skillset needed to experiment and excel as individual artists. Joy is a member of the WHS Visual Arts Department and The Arts Collaborative of Wakefield. Artistically she focuses on photography, painting, printmaking and ceramics. Rob MacRobbie was a founding member of Theatre to Go and is currently the board chair and man of many hats for the Wakefield Repertory Theatre which is a local organization with a mission to build and sustain a lasting forum within the community for all to participate in the exploration and enjoyment of the theatrical arts.

Dr. Caroline Medford Lieber is a local musician specializing in violin performance. Caroline is currently the Concertmaster of Reading Symphony and was a founding member of Quartet For-Te, founding head teacher of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Intensive Community Program, founding teacher for the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program, as well as the founding teacher of Wakefield Music with a mission to promote excellence in string instruction and performance in the greater Boston area. Colleen Getty is a licensed English Language Arts teacher with a passion for creative writing. Colleen was a member of the group of Wakefield residents who established the Boys & Girls Club of Wakefield where she leads a crafting corner during the winter session for members. Colleen is founder of The Room to Write which exists to support local writers and illustrators with a mission to provide those who want to write, love to write, and need to write with a quiet, communal and supportive space within which they are able to write.

The Wakefield Cultural Council is thankful to the town of Wakefield as well as our state officials who were represented at the reception: Representative Donald Wong, Senator Jason Lewis and Representative Paul Brodeur as well as Wakefield’s own Greg Liakos who is the Communications Director for the Massachusetts Cultural Council and our Town Administrator Steve Maio. Thank you all for supporting the arts and the many local artists that depend on community awareness in order to thrive.

The WCC plans to host an event in the fall that will provide local artists and groups with an opportunity to network in addition to gathering information about applying for a grant from the Wakefield Cultural Council.