Friends of Music and the Arts to Host Winter Festival on Sunday
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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The Friends of Music & the Arts (FMA) in the Scarsdale Schools will hold their Winter Festival at the Scarsdale Library on Sunday, January 22, from 3-5 pm. The event will feature a music marathon of student performances plus an exhibit of student art. The event is open to all, refreshments will be served and there will be raffle prizes. The performances are being sponsored with donations to FMA from families, friends and the community at large.
More about Friends of Music & the Arts:
FMA is a not-for-profit community organization that raises funds through family memberships and special events in order to support the music and art programs in all the Scarsdale schools. Each year FMA grants enable each school in the district to purchase "wish list" items such as:
SHS: a video monitor with wall mount for displaying student artwork; shelving and other organizational supplies for the drama department's prop room; storage racks for stringed instruments.
SMS: a new viola outfit, new bows and other strings supplies for the orchestra; an iPad to aid the art department in doing image research.
Edgewood: a heavy-duty paper cutter for the art room.
Fox Meadow: a digital camera and accessories for documenting student artwork.
Greenacres: a workstation for the art room; a bell kit and sheet music for the music department.
Heathcote: portable lightboxes for the art room.
Quaker Ridge: artists' manikins for the art room; bow grips and percussion instruments for the music department.
FMA funds also support a program of recognizing significant high school student achievements with awards and certificates, and FMA hosts an annual Teacher Appreciation Luncheon for the district's arts faculty.
Scarsdale's Audrey Pierot Events: Painless Event Planning
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- Written by Stacie M. Waldman
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Anyone who has ever planned a big event or has been a part of one knows how much time, effort, and STRESS goes into it. Many people don't even know where to start. Vendors don't return phone calls, the 12-year-old wants a Bat Mitzvah party that's sounding like thrice your budget, you have a list of 17 DJs or bands and no time to meet with them all...
Enter Audrey Pierot from Audrey Pierot Events. Audrey Pierot Events is a professional event planning service that specializes in all of the micro-details of event planning throughout the tristate area. Audrey Pierot's twenty years of experience in the industry permits her to handle event planning with ease. Her expertise spans all parts of party planning including décor, videography and photography, banquet management, venues, invitations, menu selection, timelines, entertainment and more. She works with people to plan all kinds of social events such as weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, milestone birthdays, anniversaries, and Sweet Sixteens. Audrey Pierot prides herself on her hands-on approach ensuring that her clients are well guided throughout the planning process and she consistently exceeds their expectations. "Party planning and the party itself should be FUN most of all," said Audrey. "This is how I help my clients feel before, during, and after the event."
Audrey Pierot respects the visions and budgets of her clients
helping to ensure that each event is unique and memorable for guests, hosts, and those being celebrated. "Each event should reflect the personality of the person or people being celebrated," she said.
Audrey Pierot's clients certainly feel that she lives up to her hype. One past client said "One piece of advice for your [event] planning fiasco- hire Audrey Pierot! She will make the day feel like it is supposed to- happy, joyous and carefree." Another said, "Audrey is ever present during the event and event planning though never intrusive; she's thorough, relaxed and relaxation producing." Yet another person remarked, "Audrey is one in a million- I cannot say enough about her." In fact, most of Audrey Pierot's clients come from referrals from who have worked with her on past events.
Audrey plans events based on her tried and true philosophies. For Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, she has a "Mitzvah Philosophy." "It's really a 'bridge celebration' as I like to call it. It's the bringing together of different age groups to celebrate a teen's coming of age with both friends and family. It can be tricky," she said. "Sometimes parents and teens have different ideas of how the event will be celebrated. I make sure ALL parties are happy with the party." She always considers a family's tastes and values and makes the planning process enjoyable.
Audrey also has a "wedding philosophy." At weddings two people become life partners and their families join together as well. "Every guest should leave understanding why the beautiful couple fell in love," she said.
In regards to other occasions, Audrey said, "A party should be fun to plan as well as to attend and I aim to accomplish both." Audrey succeeds at doing this again and again by taking her clients' ideas, goals, and visions and executing them throughout the event. She is there the day of the event from start to finish to ensure everything goes as planned.
One thankful client's love letter to Audrey in recognition of the services she provided for her daughter's wedding really says it all: "You did an extraordinary job from start to finish. Designer, friend, meteorologist, shrink, foodie, fashion consultant — you were with us every step of the way! Thanks for making Annabel's day so wonderful."
Audrey Pierot Events
http://audreypierotevents.com
[email protected]
914-439-4338
(This is sponsored content, written by Stacie Waldman)
Kerry James Marshall: A Must-See Exhibit at the Met Breuer
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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I escaped Scarsdale this week to visit a "must see" exhibit at the new Met Breuer Museum – formerly the Whitney Museum's uptown home, and I immediately understood why this exhibit is getting so much acclaim.
The entire third and fourth floors of this 
spacious museum are devoted to the lifework of an African-American artist whom some may not know. In his wall-size canvases Kerry James Marshall reflects the black experience in America, tying in cultural norms, politics, racial stereotypes and historical artistic references in a stunning panorama of the black population's suppression in white society.
Marshall was born in Birmingham Alabama in 1955 and moved to California at the age of eight to a public housing complex in Watts called Nickerson Gardens. An entire room of paintings picture the "Garden Projects" where black children are shown playing in an idyllic garden that's really a slum. In the painting "Past Times," blacks are pictured enjoying a picnic, motor boating and waterskiing – while the sound of the Temptation's Song, "Just my imagination running away from me," wafts from the radio. In this ironic work, Marshall illustrates how minorities are shut out of conventional recreational activities and the American Dream.
Another series echoes Ralph Ellison's book, "The Invisible Man," showing a jet black man against a black background, leaving only the whites of his eyes and teeth visible in the darkness.
The works are provocative and vibrantly painted. The life size images of people with black, black skin pop out from the bright colors of landscapes and detailed scenes of ordinary life such as the beauty salon and the barbershop. The works are filled with irony. For example, Marshall juxtaposes images of white women on the covers of Harlequin romance novels with voluptuous black women in a commentary on standards of beauty.
The exhibit includes works that reference significant historical events. In Souvenir 1, Marshall pictures the martyrs of the civil rights era, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King along with Malcolm X and the victims of the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham. In the center of the painting is a black figure with an angelic glittering gold wing.
Each tableau is more arresting than the next as many are life size and utilize intense color, metallic paint and glitter.
The exhibit is on until January 29, 2017 – and it's definitely worth a trip to town.
The Met Breuer
945 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10021
Phone: 212-731-1675
A Holiday Ode and Holiday Happenings in Scarsdale
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- Written by Deborah Skolnik
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Holiday Ode to Scarsdale
Written by Scarsdale Poet Laureate Deborah Skolnik
'Twas the holiday season
and amidst the good cheer,
Scarsdalians looked back on
one heck of a year.
The tax reval left some folks
feeling the pinch.
It seems like our fair town
was struck by the Grinch!
The Greenacres school plan
was just too demanding,
and so the old building
was simply left standing.
The CNC's nominee
was too late with his forms.
Someone else became trustee:
so much for the norms!
Yet for each Scarsdale shocker,
upset, or to-do,
some moments of pure,
shining triumph shone through.
A 6-year-old's note
about the Syrian drama
led him to the White House,
where he met Obama!
And our teachers and students
got a much-needed lift
from the Schools Foundation's
awesome $1.46 million gift.
Plus you have to agree
this is simply divine:
Candy and Cards' Emily Hirsch
turned a young ninety-nine.
Whenever things happen,
whatever the scoop,
10583.com's working
to keep you in the loop!
Happy holidays to all
from Joanne and the crew--
We hope 2017
brings only good news for you.
Breakfast with Santa
(Pictured here) Young families gathered in the cafeteria of Scarsdale High School on Saturday morning December 10th to enjoy crafts, a pancake breakfast and a visit with Santa.
Kids as young as 3 months were on hand for a photo opp with Santa and a brief conversation about what they were expecting him to bring them. They had fun decorating gingerbread me and chowing down on pancakes provided by Langes of Scarsdale. The event was sponsored by the Scarsdale Recreation Department and Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce.
All Community Carol Sing Along at Hitchcock Church
On Sunday December 11th, The Reverend Pete D. Jones welcomed the community at large to the Annual All Community Carol Sing-Along at Hitchcock Church. Under the musical direction of Minister of Music Dr. John T. King, the evening began with a prelude from Donna Elaine's Flute Choir. Dr. King then led the filled sanctuary in a full complement of traditional Christmas songs, with a pause halfway through for the Hitchcock Handbell Choir's rendition of "Carol of the Bells."
The musical portion of the evening concluded as the gathering processed outside to sing "Silent Night" as the great Christmas tree at the foot of Greenacres Avenue was lit to the accompaniment of a gentle snowfall.
Afterwards, all were welcomed indoors for a delicious reception with hot hors d'oeuvres, wine, and holiday desserts, while children enjoyed an array of Christmas craft projects topped off by a visit from Santa Claus.
Grease is a Hit on Stage at SHS
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- Written by Jon Thaler
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Three packed performances of a production of Grease from the Scarsdale High School Drama Club drew more than 2,000 people to SHS November 18 – 20. According to Perri Thaler, "The cast was ecstatic, not only about the turn out but because all three performances ran smoothly and were tons of fun for all involved." Rehearsals for the play began three months ago.
Three packed performances of a production of Grease from the Scarsdale High School Drama Club drew more than 2,000 people to SHS November 18 – 20. According to Perri Thaler, "The cast was ecstatic, not only about the turn out but because all three performances ran smoothly and were tons of fun for all involved." Rehearsals for the play began three months ago.
At the heart of the story is the romance between hot-rodding gangster Danny Zuko and the sweet new girl in town, Sandy Dumbrowski. They had a secret romance in summer, but now back in the context of school, peer-pressure and cliques make their love a bit more complicated. The whole gang sang and danced around Danny and Sandy's romance, through hit songs as "Greased Lightnin'", "We Go Together", and "Mooning", recalling the music of Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Elvis Presley that became the soundtrack of a generation. See photos from Jon Thaler here.
And mark your calendar for the Drama Club's next show, "Almost Maine," a student directed play that will be performed on January 20 and 21, 2017.
