The Berks County Community Foundation held the first of a series of student art show openings, which showcased the work of Tulpehocken students, on Nov. 13 at their facility in Reading.
The event offered refreshments and a walk-through of the facility, which is housing more than 50 works of art created by Tulpehocken School District students of all ages.
Among the pieces incorporated are pencil drawings, oil and acrylic paintings, sculptures and other works of mixed media.
“One of the goals behind this was to reinforce the importance of arts in the schools,” said Director of Communications Jason Brudereck. “We often hear of schools contemplating reducing or cutting arts programs. This is a way of showcasing what students are doing across the county.”
The goal of the program, started by Kevin Murphy of the Berks County Community Foundation, is to use the facility to showcase works of art from every school district in the county over time.
Each school is invited to present their students’ artwork for a period of three months, and each will have the opportunity to enjoy a special opening, as Tulpehocken did.
“Kevin called me up, and after he told me what the idea was in one sentence, I said, ‘Let’s do it,'” said Tulpehocken Superintendent Dr. Edward Albert. “We constantly talk about PSSA, Keystone tests, school profiles, but when do we talk about the other part of the curriculum that is related to arts?”
Dr. Albert strongly supports the arts in schools and was thrilled at the opportunity to pioneer the program.
“We have never cut, nor will we ever cut art and music as long as I am superintendent,” he said. “There are a lot of kids who have wonderful talent. What a better way to display it.”
The three art teachers in the district helped to set up the event and were in attendance.
“Kevin Murphy is within our district, and we’ve had his children in class,” said Marie DeFillips, the art teacher at Penn Bernville and Bethel Elementary Schools. “They brought the three art teachers in, and we talked about the logistics of all of it.”
DeFillips hopes other schools with follow suit.
“We are doing the first run-through, hoping to get other districts involved since this is a community building,” she said.
The work of Tulpehocken students will be on display until Feb. 27.
“We feel art is really important for these students,” said Frankie Aitken, Senior Vice President of Finance and Operation. “We thought maybe if we make a statement by displaying some of these students’ art and allowing people to come see it, they would be able to see that art is alive, and this is what it does to our kids.”
After the Tulpehocken showcase is taken down, the next district will come in and set up their work for an opening slated for the second week of March.
“We are unsure which will be the next district,” said Kevin Murphy. “We have an idea of which ones are interested, so we are just waiting to hear for sure.”
The Berks County Community Foundation, located at 237 Court Street, will have the exhibit open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
More information is available at www.bccf.org.
