Jane Shatz, director of Morris County Arts Workshop (MCAW)
CHESTER, NJ – “There’s no place like home.” Thanks to a generous donation from Chester Township, the students, teachers and Director Jane Shatz of the Morris County Arts Workshop (MCAW), are going to have one. The Township has donated space at the former Lucent property on North Road / Route 513 in Chester to the non-profit, community based organization which has brought after school art, music, language arts, health and cultural programs as well as free classes for seniors to Chester, Mendham, Long Valley and the surrounding area. However, this “home” is in need of much necessary renovations and improvements to make it habitable for its programs and students.
On Friday, May 14, 2010, MCAW will host a Home for the Arts Fundraising Event and Scholarship Night to raise money to create its multi-purpose performing arts space, Café and art gallery. During the gala dinner, to be held at the Flanders Valley Banquet Hall in Flanders, New Jersey from 7 p.m. to midnight, the organization will also recognize graduating high school students who are teachers at the Workshop with special scholarship awards for achievement and advancement in their study of the arts.
A very special keynote address will be given by David Leckie, a history teacher at the Black River Middle School in Chester, and the son of Robert Leckie, whose work Helmut for My Pillow is the basis for HBO’s war saga, “The Pacific.” Leckie’
Award winning area custom builder Jay Grant of Grant Homes in Mendham will also speak.
“This is an exciting and exhilarating time for us,” states Shatz about the Gala and the new residence for her program. “Our fundraising event is going to serve many purposes. We honor our three graduating student teachers with scholarships. For the past five years, we have awarded more than $8,000 in scholarships to our student teachers, many of whom have gone on to study and practice their craft.”
She continues, “We are also raising funds to create a much needed permanent location for our programs which provide students with a wide range of classes from dance, theater, painting, yoga, piano, violin and voice along with Chinese language studies, robotics and martial arts to name a few. While we will always be a part of the Chester and Mendham schools, the new Home will provide us with a much-needed permanent location and enable us to offer more classes and venues including pottery, painting and sculpturing. Our proposed Café, multi-purpose performing spaces, art gallery and art shop will enable us to showcase our local talents.”
The MCAW’s Home for the Arts Fundraiser is open to all who wish to attend. Tickets are $100 per person. Those who wish to contribute $250 or more will receive a special honor with their name on the new Home’s Wall of Tribute.
To purchase tickets, download sponsorship forms or for additional information, please visit www.mcartsworkshop.com or contact Director Jane Shatz at (908) 531-8433.
Registration for MCAW’s Summer Camp offerings is also underway. Students from five to 16 can enjoy a full variety of camps for art, music, science, band and theater. There are day and afternoon schedules available. Visit www.mcartsworkshop.com for more information and to download the registration.
About the Morris County Arts Workshop
Founded in 2003 by Jane Shatz, a Juilliard School of Music dance alumna and Chester resident, the Morris County Arts Workshop (MCAW) is a non-profit group created to nurture and promote the love for the arts in children of all ages. The program is community based and offers a wide variety of classes from musical instrument lessons to voice to painting to yoga to language and martial arts. There are two sessions per year which culminate with a special Showcase performance and art display in the fall and spring. Classes are currently held in Chester and Mendham public schools. For additional information and class schedules, please visit www.mcartsworkshop.com.
About Jane Shatz
Founder and Executive Director of the Morris County Arts Workshop (MCAW)
Her lifelong love of the arts and a need for a community-based arts program inspired Jane Shatz to create the Morris County Arts Workshop. A dancer, teacher, clothing designer, inventor, business owner, Black Belt in Judo and Jujitsu, and mother of three talented girls, Ms. Shatz knows how important a knowledge of the arts in a loving, nurturing environment is for a well-rounded education. In 1998, she helped launch the Music and Art Appreciation Program for students in kindergarten through fifth grade in the Chester schools. The volunteer based Program supports the school’s art and music education and introduces the children to art and music from every era. For being a role model who serves as an inspiration to others and makes a positive difference in her community, Ms. Shatz was awarded the “Best of America” Hometown Hero Award in 2005. She has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Dance Division of the Julliard School of Music, Lincoln Center, New York, NY. Jane Shatz is one of the alumni featured in the 2005 Juilliard Centennial magazine. The magazine was created to commemorate the school’s 100th year anniversary.
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