Message from the Executive Director, Noreen Shanfelter

Dear Friends, I am proud to have been named executive director of the University City Arts League, an organization I first came in contact with almost 30 years ago. Pregnant with my first child, Zoe, I took ballet classes and became friends with another soon-to-be mom. Gail Massey and I remain friends to this day. Our daughters went to school together and Gail’s son, Alan, now sits on our board of directors. University City is like that, inspiring and promoting friendship, community and a love of the arts. To this day, dance holds a place dear to my heart and the Arts League continues to offer dance for children and adults. For those long-time residents of University City, we have seen changes. Baby carriages all over the neighborhood (remember when we were pushing them?), a new public school and plenty of young people. The Arts League, a community arts and education center founded 43 years ago, has also changed to serve community residents, while remaining true to its core value that age, race, culture, cost or sexual orientation should not be an obstacle in learning about the arts. We believe that the arts enrich individual lives and serves as an important contributor to the community. We also believe that the arts can be a great common denominator in uniting diverse groups to explore shared artistic passion. A commitment to education through the arts is essential. An Array of Arts Programming for Children and Adults Our pottery studio is the only one this side of the Schuylkill River and is our most popular class—for children and adults alike. Our arts program for children has expanded tremendously in the last three years. Trained dancers from top conservatories teach ballet and creative movement. We’re lucky to draw on the talents of artists with credentials from arts school such as Tyler and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Young artists take drawing and painting. Comic book art is a favorite. Digital photography? Yep. Painting. Of course. Our four-year old summer camp’s theme for this summer is “Arts Around the World.” The camp will use art from Africa, Asia, and Central America to demonstrate the diversity of the world. Children will learn about themselves, each other and, as we have seen, mutual respect will grow. Visits to the Japanese Tea house and the Asian American Cultural Center along with visits by dancers and artists from Africa and Central America make real the idea of an international world. So How Are We Doing? In 2009 some 3,000 students from tots to grandparents took classes from yoga to the Argentine Tango and conversational language classes. So what’s hottest? Youth programming and everything clay. Students flock to UCAL’s pottery classes and to monitored practice sessions. From throwing a pot on the wheel to hand-shaping an item, students of all levels are enrolled. Finding ways to add more classes is on the front burner for 2010 as are initiatives to bring class registration on-line. Creating partnerships with schools to bring art to more children remains a top priority and raising funds to offer scholarships is a necessity. Using our facility to bring art to the community through monthly gallery exhibits by famed and emerging local artists is a blessing for which we thank our gallery committee, a team of local artists who seek and select outstanding art and the artists themselves. We thank our supporters, especially our founding members and our elected officials, Mayor Michael Nutter, Rep. James Roebuck and City Councilperson Jannie Blackwell for supporting our efforts. We heartily thank as well the foundations who support us including the Fels Fund, Bartol, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and our individual donors. At the annual auction, the Arts League’s most important fund raiser of the year, we encourage you to have fun and to bid, early and often. We hope to create a scholarship fund and shore up our aging Victorian building. Fees alone pay only a fraction of our costs. We urge you to pay us a visit, volunteer, take one (or more of) our 70 classes and donate. Please call on us if you have any questions or suggestions. Sincerely, Noreen Shanfelter Executive Director University City Arts League