02/17/2021
Greetings all,
I learned this morning that Fillmore Arts Center, as we all know and love, will no longer be funded by DCPS. While this announcement saddens me, it did not surprise me. We have had a long and amazing history of providing a variety of the arts to children of the District of Columbia. Our founding mothers and fathers launched a community effort in public education in 1973. Theirs was a extraordinary vision and hard won effort to re-imagine the closing of a school property to champion and recognize the importance of arts education for the development of well educated, culturally literate children.
The awards have been many (Mayor's Arts Award, Rockefeller Bros. Excellence in Arts Education, Network of Visual and Performing Arts Schools National Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, just to name a few) but the rewards far out weigh these recognitions. To see the spark in a child's eye when they "get it" in tech class or play their first chord or master a difficult step or memorize a poem or explain the ceramic process - all of these are magical moments but no more important than the day to day arts experiences that took place each and every day.
I want to personally thank each and every teacher that graced the halls of Fillmore Arts - each one gave us a gift of their time and talent. Each board member of the Friends of Fillmore bestowed upon the community their wisdom, time and energy. Sara Friendly, for nearly 37 years was our own whirlwind Director of Fillmore Arts Workshop, and graced us with skill, wit and energy. We were fortunate to have two, strong former Director's, Pat Mitchell and Katherine Lattener guide us wisely into new era's of educational pedagogy.
We recognize our school partners throughout the years which include: Barnard ES, Burrville ES, Garrison ES, Hardy MS, Hearst ES, Hyde ES, Key ES, Ludlow-Taylor ES, Mann ES, Marie Reed ES, Oyster-Adams EC, Raymond EC, River Terrace EC, Ross ES, Stoddert ES, and West ES. We touched the lives of thousands of students and families and inspired many teachers from these schools to integrate the arts into academic lessons.
We can be proud of our commitments to equity, our guiding of artistic pursuits, our individual gifts and dogged determination to advocate for arts education (often in the face of enormous difficulties) and our successes with students.
And so, a new chapter must begin. Our world is quite different than it was 47 years ago when Fillmore began. Now we must consider the environmental effects of busing 1000 students per week, the costs of multiple specialists, instructional time lost with travel and the mandated demands on teacher/students time.
I have so many wonderful memories of Fillmore and I know that many of you do to. May I suggest a throwback challenge? Let's keep our collective memories alive and post them here.
It has been my great honor to lead the Fillmore Arts Center for the past 7 years and to have spent many creative years teaching my passion - dance.
Thank you all.
Live Artfully,
Maggie Meenehan
I have to include these words from E. Hemingway:
"Live the full life
of the mind,
exhilarated by
new ideas,
intoxicated by
the romance
of the unusual."
