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SMARTS program making a comeback
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Students Motivated by the Arts plans a comeback this fall and is looking for donations to do it.
The program, formerly affiliated with Youngstown State University, was cut as part of budget reductions last fall.
So far, SMARTS has raised $18,000 in cash and $51,000 in in-kind donations from individuals and businesses in the community.
“The success of SMARTS relies on us as a community,” Ron Faniro of the SMARTS Circle advisory group told supporters Tuesday at the Jewish Community Center. “It’s your community arts school. Let’s get busy to make it happen.”
Since last fall, Becky Keck, SMARTS executive director, has been working to revive the program, Faniro said.
SMARTS operated for 16 years, providing classes in visual arts, music, dance, theater and creative writing to students in preschool through 12th grade, six days per week.
One of those students is Patrick Kale, an eighth-grader at Boardman Center Middle School, who started taking SMARTS classes in 2009. He said it was a great experience that changed him.
“It made me more open and less afraid to try new things,” Patrick said.
Now he plays drums in a rock band — something he doubts would have happened had SMARTS not entered his life.
The Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County is acting as SMARTS fiscal agent, allowing foundations and people to donate. FACT is giving the donor the appropriate tax credits with no administrative fees.
The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, in honor of the Thomases Family Endowment, is the first foundation to commit to this SMARTS transition.
Debbi Grinstein, endowment director, said the endowment is excited to be part of SMARTS’ return.
T. Sharon Woodberry, Youngstown economic-development director, said that though people may not think of economic development and arts as going together, the arts contribute to quality of life.
“It’s something we need in the community,” she said.
The advisory board is looking for a new home for SMARTS, creating a new organizational structure and working through the process to apply for 501(c)(3) status.
Whether a permanent site is found by fall, though, SMARTS programming will begin this fall in some capacity. SMARTS website is www.smarts-artschool.org.
Faniro, an architect, pointed to statements from the National Guild for Arts Education indicating that community arts education encourages cognitive development, increases creativity, improves self-esteem and promotes better health.
But he said that from his perspective, it motivates and inspires youths, providing a platform for creativity.
If just one student who participates in programming becomes the next Andy Warhol, Yo-Yo Ma or Maya Angelou, “we will have done our job,” Faniro said.