Artisan/craft fair to support art program

Date: 10/19/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



LONGMEADOW -- Tight fiscal times mean budgets have to be cut -- sometimes they're trimmed, sometimes they're slashed. Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy (LYA) will soon be hosting an artisan/craft fair on Oct. 25 to bolster their budget for the art program in their school.

Cindy Lutz Kornet, the art teacher at LYA, is a passionate supporter of all forms of art. "Being in a religious school, things are all pretty well lined out," she said, "but in art, students can really tap into their creativity and their spirituality."

Right now, the students at LYA, who range in age from preschool to eighth grade, participate in an art class once a week. Kornet teaches units in a variety of mediums, including fiber arts, book arts, collages, jewelry making and creating new items from recycled materials.

"I really open them up to their design skills. In some ways, I feel I give them more than a public program [would]," Kornet said. She won a Harold Grinspoon Foundation award for her work after her second year at the school.

The LYA art program, however, is in jeopardy of being cut from once a week to twice a month, due to fiscal constraints. That's where Kornet's passion comes into play.

"I raised $2,000 initially [to help save the program]," Kornet told Reminder Publications. The artisan and craft fair she's organizing has already seen a lot of support from local artists because she "won't take a beloved program from the students."

Donna Beck, a fiber and mixed media artist, is one of the many who have signed on to participate in the fair. She teaches Hand Papermaking and Fiber as Paper Art courses at Western New England College, and has a studio at Indian Orchard Mills. She'll be showing three dimensional collages, cards, bowls, ornaments, books and tiles at the LYA fair.

"What drew me to participate in the fair? I met Cindy when I was exhibiting at the Mattoon Street Arts Festival. She explained that LYA is in danger of losing the funding for its art program," Beck said. "As an art teacher, and a parent, this concerns me deeply. From my own experience, as well as from reading books like 'Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Comes From and Why' by Ellen Dissanayake and articles by Liz Bowie about researchers who are studying how arts bring out the best in student brains, I believe the arts are absolutely critical in our lives.

"When Cindy asked me to participate in the LYA fair, I was more than happy to support this effort," Beck continued.

To view some of Beck's work, visit mars.wnec.edu/~dbeck.

Other artists will be coming from the Indian Orchard Mills, as well as artisans and crafters from Amherst and the Berkshires.

"I will do everything within my power not to take this beloved class from my talented students," Kornet said.

The LYA Save the Arts Program Artisans/Craft Fair will be taking place Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at LYA, 1148 Converse St. In addition to the crafts and artwork, food will be available for purchase, door prizes will be awarded and a raffle will also take place.