On Wednesday, March 1, HAFTR Lower School hosted their annual Evening of the Arts event. Hundreds of guests came to the school to enjoy a night of both visual and performing arts. HAFTR art teacher Mrs. Royce Maron and assistant art teacher Ms. Naomi Elterman worked hard to tap into each child’s artistic talent, resulting in a beautiful showcase of student work. Guests got to walk through the beautiful gallery of student artwork, which included sculptures and paintings.
The fourth grade sang the Star-Spangled Banner and HaTikvah before launching into a musical performance entitled, “Man of Shushan: a Purim Shpiel,” written by HAFTR music teacher Janet Goldman and her husband, Judge Ronald Goldman. Rabbi Schwab, fourth grade rebbe, created the innovative and attractive lighting for the performance. The beautiful performance was a great way to gear up for Purim and allowed students to connect to the holiday on a deeper level by exploring the story and experiencing it through the arts.
After the performance, the audience was invited to participate in the creation of an installation art piece for the school, designed by Rabbi Yitzchok Moully. The piece, a clear glass house structure, is entitled, the Habitat for Divinity. Students and their guests traced and cut out colorful shapes that depicted mitzvos and Judaism and mounted them on the walls of the house.
Art offers a means of exploration for students. It helps them to connect to concepts learned in other subjects and further solidifies their understanding of them through exploration. Through the arts, students are taught to grow and explore the world. HAFTR would like to thank the following Event Sponsors for making this worthwhile event possible: Sara & Lee Bienstock, Irene & Andrew Goldberg, and Melisa & Chaim Lazarus. Thank you to the following Partner Sponsors: Debra & Moshe Davis (in memory of Max Davis a”h), Lisa & Daniel Kuflik, Lauren A. Rapoport (in honor of Miri Frand, and in loving memory of Bernyce & Herbert Winick a”h).
