To the Editor:

As an active member of my community, I am involved with many organizations that serve the needs of the most vulnerable residents of our town. Among these, a quiet but steadfast partner to the low-income children in Princeton is the Arts Council of Princeton. I am writing this letter to encourage each family and household in our town to consider a gift to the Arts Council’s emergency Spring Appeal.

Each Friday, in three locations across our town, (or at least before the COVID-19 shutdown) the Arts Council’s ArtReach program provides hands-on arts programming to children residing in low-income and community subsidized housing. These classes are integrated into an afterschool enrichment program aimed at improving academic performance, encouraging literacy, and supporting the emotional well-being of our most vulnerable children.

The program doesn’t get a lot of press or attention. If you weren’t one of the families served, you might never know it exists, but you might have seen some of the artwork created by these children. As an art instructor at the Pannel Center location on Witherspoon Street, I can attest to the sheer joy this program provides the children who participate. In the Fall of 2018, my art class at the Pannel Center created an art piece called “Mixed Media Monarch Butterflies” exhibited at the Princeton Public Library. These students have also contributed with artwork to several cultural events organized by the Arts Council like Day of the Dead, Martin Luther King Day, Three Kings Day, Sweet Art Market, and many others.

The challenge of the COVID-19 crisis has laid bare the implicit hierarchy of priorities we are addressing as a community. Healthy food, shelter, and clothing will always take priority over the need for art and creative expression when an emergency hit. But I am asking you to consider the importance of art for art’s sake and for the joy it brings to those who create it.

The Arts Council is our community’s nonprofit arts partner. It relies on charitable giving and earned income for support. This shutdown has had a devastating impact on the organization. To ensure it opens its doors when this crisis abates, please consider a gift, of any amount today.

Veronica Olivares-Weber
Edwards Place