I was at the Richmond Arts Awards on Tuesday night to present the Arts Education Award.
In my little spiel before opening the envelope, I talked about the category’s three nominees: Mr. Tony, an insanely popular art teacher who works magic with kids; Shelley Long, an elementary teacher whose passion for dance has created a particularly poignant connection with an autistic boy; Melanie Devoy, who runs a school art program, bringing kids into the Richmond Arts Gallery and taking the gallery back to their classrooms through resources and curriculum ideas.
It occurred to me that each one of these individuals, in just this single category, has impacted my life in one way or another.
Mr. Tony actually taught my daughter at one of his summer art camps, inspiring her to take risks and trust herself.
Long built an inclusive world for a boy with autism, a condition that has touched my family. Loved ones of these kids are eternally grateful to those precious teachers who find a way to let them shine.
And Devoy I met a couple of years ago at an art show opening. Her enthusiasm and strategies to ensure the gallery not be seen as some elite enclave has drawn me back there.
Guest speaker Christopher Gaze, artistic director of Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, illustrated the same point about how art impacts us all, albeit far more eloquently.
“If you’re confused and say ‘that’s Greek to me,’ you’re quoting Shakespeare. If you recall your ‘salad days,’ you’re quoting Shakespeare. If you’ve ‘played fast and loose,’ been ‘tongue tied’ or ‘hoodwinked,’ you’re quoting Shakespeare.”
The point being, not only has Shakespeare informed our language, but art imbues every aspect of our lives, enriching them in, often, unexpected ways.
This concept is not a hard sell at an arts awards event. However, at the soiree following, I talked to a young man who has initiated an art project at Aberdeen Square, described as “a new wave of experimental creativity.”
He’s thrilled with the opportunity to do this work, but he makes no money from it and is not sure how long he can continue.
The winner of the Youth Arts Award, Anna Toth, is a remarkable musician with a heart-stopping voice. And while music is her first love, last year at about this time, she decided to apply to law school because, as she told me, she couldn’t continue to perform original, award-winning work only to be handed a Starbucks card at the end of the evening.
The arts awards is a fantastic opportunity to highlight some great work.
But, if we just laud the arts without actually supporting those who create it, we’ll be ignoring the advice of that guy who once said; “To thine own self be true.”
