YOUNGSTOWN Ceremony unveils children's art center

The first SMARTS sessions in the new Adler Art Academy is to begin Oct. 1.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Before the first drum circle could be held at Adler Art Academy, there needed to be a drumroll.
Politicians, educators, artists and supporters gathered Wednesday at the unveiling of Adler Art Academy, new home of Youngstown State University's SMARTS Center and Arts Council of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
"This is the place where the door of self-expression is going to be opened to the children of the community," said George McCloud, dean of YSU's College of Fine and Performing Arts.
The $750,000 project involved the renovation of about 8,000 square feet in Youngstown Symphony Center, which also houses Edward W. Powers Auditorium.
Administrative offices and a visual arts classroom were installed on the second floor, where the symphony's offices used to be located. The third floor includes classrooms for drama, dance and vocal and instrumental music.
A gallery with a skylight is accessible from either floor. The spaces are uncluttered, the walls have been painted in soft colors, and classrooms are bathed in natural lighting.
After-school and weekend classes in opera, stringed instruments, youth theater and drum circles should begin Oct. 1, SMARTS director Becky Keck said.
Asked how many children may be accommodated there, "It's limitless in some ways," she said, noting that professional development programs for teachers also will be offered.
Background
Students Motivated By the Arts, or SMARTS, began several years ago as YSU's arts outreach program. Among other things, SMARTS has helped Youngstown city schools pupils to plan, produce and perform in their own operas and has educated youths in Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.
Funding for the academy came from the Abe and Leona M. Adler Charitable Trust, as well as the city's Community Development Agency and Youngstown Symphony Society.
Atty. Daniel B. Roth, trustee of the Adler account, said Mrs. Adler left strict instructions about the use of her money when she died 11 years ago. She wanted to help young people; she limited the trust to Mahoning Valley charities; she was interested in programs for the disabled since she, too, had physical limitations; and she wanted the trust principal to be fully disbursed after 10 years, Roth said.
The drumbeat for more public-private cooperation also could be heard at the academy's grand opening. YSU President David Sweet said the opening of Adler Arts Academy shows what can be achieved in the Youngstown 2010 revitalization plan. The project required vision, a plan and the will to implement that plan, Sweet said.
Arts Council of Youngstown and Mahoning County, which supplies schools with arts programs, was formerly located in St. John Episcopal Church building on Wick Avenue. Its new, highly-visible downtown site is further proof that "we're moving into an era of arts advocacy," said the group's president, David Vosburgh.
The council is a partner in YSU's Summer Festival of the Arts and First Night Youngstown, the annual New Year's Eve celebration.
The arts council also is becoming "more of a service organization to our members," Vosburgh said, by bringing groups together, resolving problems, encouraging planning and booking speakers.
shaulis@vindy.com