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July 22, 2009

Gift of $1,000 keeps student art in public eye

By Joni Quinn

A grant to the Haverhill Foundation for Excellence in Education will help keep local students' artistic and academic efforts in the public eye.

The foundation received a $1,000 grant through the New York Life Foundation's Volunteers for Life Grant Program, which encourages and supports the volunteer involvement of New York Life employees, agents and retirees in community-based nonprofit organizations.

Tim Jordan, a member of Team Haverhill and principal of Jordan Financial and Insurance Services.

"I became involved with the Haverhill Foundation for Excellence in Education as a result of their collaboration with Team Haverhill's Public Art Initiative," Jordan said.

Jordan is a volunteer from New York Life's New Hampshire office who has worked with the foundation for two years, helping to lead to the production of five downtown murals depicting topics from Haverhill's history.

They were painted by students from the Haverhill Discovery Club after-school program under the guidance of professional artists.

The most recent product of this collaboration is Merry Mac the Rollicking River Monster, one of the giant shoes that is part of the Soles of Haverhill public art installation. The shoe was designed by local artist Liz Persing, who created the design and helped the Discovery Club students from the Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School paint it. Merry Mac is on display in Columbus Park near England's MicroCreamery.

According to Tina Fuller, director of the Haverhill YMCA and after-school program director at Cogswell School, some of the grant will be used to pay Persing for her work with the children at Silver Hill on Merry Mac and the rest will be reserved for future public art projects with Team Haverhill, such as another mural.

Fuller said the foundation is worthy of support.

"I think it is a unique opportunity for students to benefit their community through the arts, and to receive such broad public recognition," Fuller said.

The professional artists working on the projects with the children act as mentors and instructors for the students during the production phase, Fuller said.

"Students get to interact with someone who is making a living as an artist and teaches them career awareness," Fuller said.

"The students' work is prominently displayed and recognized in the newspaper and by the whole community, giving them confidence in their ability to make a difference. This is one of the best activities we do in Discovery Club," Fuller said.

According to Fuller, many organizations won't give money directly to the school department or the city but prefer to give to a tax exempt, 501-c-3 organization such as the Foundation.

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