Why is it that whenever there is talk of cutbacks in budgets for public education the first thing that goes is funding for the Arts?

Is Arts education something that people care about? It's ironic that much of the talk about public education, and much of the funding for the "reform" of public education, comes from people who live in an economic zone where public education is an abstraction. Their children are likely get a good exposure to the Arts at a private school, but what of the children in more economically challenged areas - do they deserve the Arts, too?

So where does education in the Arts in public schools come from? Often it's squeezed out of other budgets within a school, or augmented by funds raised by Parent Associations, but in many of these schools whose populations can be considered at risk (such as John's) there's simply nothing for the Arts at all.

That's where groups such as Time In enter the picture. They serve a vital function in young people's lives every single day.

Time In is an innovative outreach initiative intended to bring children out of under-served classrooms on a weekly basis and offer them an arts-based immersion designed to make them active, imaginative participants in the world around them. Heart & Soul is proud to call Time In one of its constituents.

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Heart & Soul Supports

Children's Arts Initiative

Throughout the School Year TIME IN Brings the Arts to 400 Public School Students in Harlem and the South Bronx

Time In Kids

out on an art adventure

On their first visit to Time In each child is given their own set of colored pencils and a sketchbook. John - a skinny five year old - grabbed his tin of pencils and started jump-ing up and down.

"I DREAMED we was get-ting these!" he said. John's fantastic mind, his amazing dancing, his artwork, and natural leadership abilities were about to be nurtured during his weekly Time In.

John had many issues at school including boundless aggression and anger, and his Assistant Principal initially wouldn't let him go to Time In. It just wasn't safe to have him on the bus with the other kids when they traveled from their school in Harlem to the Time In studios in Chelsea. In an initial visit the Time In staff had seen his potential, and called his mother to say he was welcome to come to Time In on Saturdays, for free. All she had to do was to bring him herself, and wait for him. But they never showed up.

Eventually Time In offered to send someone to John's school to accompany him on the bus in place of his Mom. He really wanted to be back at Time In, and little by little they started seeing more of him. John and his group got to visit the Metropolitan Opera, to see Julie Taymor's production of The Magic Flute. Since they had been studying the piece for more than a month, John was ecstatic. He especially loved the character of Papageno, the spritely and charismatic bird-catcher, a major character in the opera.

A few months later they started the next project, centered on the ballet Sleeping Beauty. It went well at the beginning, but after a while John began to get impatient and wanted to know "When do we get to see the REAL people do this?" Unfortunately, that wasn't in the program.

But then a friend of Time In's Founder and President, Cyndie Bellen-Berth�z�, donated a pair of tickets for John and his Mom to see Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. John was transfixed. And at the end of the ballet, when the Bluebird goes into her cage, John looked up and said "She must have been thinking about Papageno."

You can see video of John, and other Time In Kids, at their website www.timeinkids.org

Hello from the President of the Heart & Soul Charitable Fund

Our 25th Anniversary Auction, held March 6th, raised over $365,000 and the Forrest Church Award recipient, Ken Burns, brought history to life with his remarks. Attendees got reacquainted with one of our All Souls 19th century heroes, Peter Cooper, in The Great Hall of The Cooper Union. We all had a fun-filled, festive time!

Now the Board has begun the process of re-imagining how Heart & Soul will inspire and lead its fundraising efforts for social outreach into the future. As we move forward I will share our progress with you. Thank you for your continued support of Heart & Soul.

Sincerely,

Bill Bechman, President
Heart & Soul Charitable Fund