A special event will showcase the involvement of children in the arts, in everything from pottery to ballroom dancing, at several downtown venues this Saturday.
And in the wake of that event, Beeman Elementary School student actors and West Parish Elementary School student musicians will stage an original new work, written by a Gloucester educator, at O'Maley Middle School on May 16 and 17.
This Saturday's event, the Gloucester Public Schools' Arts Festival, runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is sponsored by the Gloucester Education Foundation.
The Docksiders will perform in the Kyrouz Auditorium in City Hall at 3 p.m.
Venues for the festival are the Cape Ann Museum, Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester City Hall and the Post Office. The festival includes all-day exhibits, workshops and various performances.
"We are celebrating all of the arts — from fine art to industrial art — that our Gloucester public school students participate in. All events are free and open to the public," said Pam Lally, an organizer. "All of the arts are very important to whole brain learning, not just an adjunct to the regular curriculum. Although.our art budgets aren't what we would like them to be, the arts festival is a great opportunity to celebrate the vast talent represented in our school community."
Maggie Rosa, the volunteer executive director of the Education Foundation, said this is a beginning event for an arts initiative started by the foundation.
"We wanted to celebrate all the wonderful things that are already happening in the schools," said Rosa. "There's a lot going on, and we're very excited about it."
The following events are scheduled:
r Cape Ann Museum: Pottery and industrial arts work of Gloucester High students will be showcased. From 10 a.m. to noon, Tristan Dunn will lead an origami workshop. Every half hour from 1 to 4 p.m., Jacqueline Underwood will lead a program to teach parents and children to look at art together. There will be a musical instrument "petting zoo" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Gloucester High School chorus will perform from 9 to 11 a.m. at Folly Cove Auditorium at the museum. A Beeman theater group will perform from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Gloucester High School's Drama Club will perform from 2 to 3 p.m., and German Theater Group will be in the auditorium from 3 to 5 p.m.
r Sawyer Free Library will host a senior art show all day, and a Gloucester High School creative writing recitation from 1 to 4 p.m.
r City Hall: There will be a show of O'Maley Middle School students' art all day. Fifth-graders will demonstrate ballroom dancing from 9 to 10 a.m. The "Art Car," featuring Juni van Dyke's Senior Center Arts Program's papier mache people, will be parked in front of the building all day. C.B. Fisk model organs will also be on display.
r Gloucester Post Office: Elementary school art will be on exhibit during lobby hours.
For more information about the events, call 978-282-5550 or e-mail knoop07@verizon.net.
Star show
The May 16 and 17 show, called "Swinging on a Star," came about because of a partnership among school staff, the Gloucester Stage Co. and other volunteers.
The show is being produced by Beeman School students. A West Parish Elementary School music ensemble will serve as the pit band for the Beeman Players. The musicians are under the guidance of Kathleen Dailey, a former Gloucester music teacher and creator of the citywide ballroom dancing event for fifth-graders.
"Another innovative element is the collaboration between the Beeman/Plum Cove PTO with professionals from the Gloucester Stage Company to produce the show," said Kristen Michel, a PTO co-president.
The show involves 70 children, from actors to set builders, along with the support of many community members.
"This has been a truly challenging year for our schools, and participating in this production has been a bright shining star for our third- and fourth-grade students," Michel said.
The group's motto has been: "Shoot for the moon — even if you miss, you will land among the stars."
The play, written by retired West Parish teacher Vicky Harvey, begins when a fourth-grade teacher at "Bee Cove School" leaves her science class alone for a moment.
"That moment turns into an eternity when a medieval model of the solar system breaks, stopping time itself. Unless the class can reverse the spell by learning enough about the working of the universe to get the planets spinning and orbiting again, they will be stuck in class forever. But the class can't do it alone, and when one of them wishes upon a star, she gets a whole constellation to guide them through the science of space," explained John Sarrouf of Gloucester Stage Co.
Queen Cassiopeia enters the scene, and invites her friends, "The Fabulous Friction Five," the nine planets — including a rather ill Mother Earth, and Sir Isaac Newton himself to sing and dance the students through preparation for the biggest test of their lives.
"This entertaining and educational new musical will swing you into the outer reaches of your imagination and will keep you singing all the way home again," Sarrouf said.
"We also discovered that the graphic designer that we purchased our T-shirts from is the nephew of Robert Beeman — the namesake for Beeman Memorial School."
In addition to the assistance from Sarrouf, Gloucester Stage Company's production and facility manager, Gloucester Stage's Kelley Johnston helped students build the sets; Linda Stockman helped create the costumes; and Jay DiPrima, from the drama program at O'Maley Middle School, is coordinating technical aspects of the production with the students. The Gloucester School Connection provided a grant to help with production costs.
The May 16 and 17 shows are at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $5 for general admission, $4 for students and seniors, and free for children younger than 4.
Gail McCarthy may be contacted at gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com.
