Category: Instruments in the Attic

We are thrilled to announce that the Academy has been honored with the Legend Leadership Award from the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, specifically for our Instruments in the Attic donation and outreach music program. The prestigious grant award continues the late great Dale Earnhardt’s commitment to supporting programs that focus on children, education, and environmental/ wildlife preservation.

The award includes a generous financial gift from the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, earmarked for expenses related to musical instrument repair and for scholarship funds for two Mason student “Teaching Scholars”, plus an official certificate, a book about Mr. Earnhardt, and finally a signed, limited edition Epiphone electric guitar (pictured above).

 

 

“On behalf of the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, we would like to congratulate you, and the Instruments in the Attic program, as one of our selected Legend Leadership Award Winners,” stated Dale Earnhardt Foundation representative Rhonda Phipps in a letter to the Academy. “In recognition of this creative program, and the leadership of your [Mason] students, [the grant award will] help the program to continue and expand. Congratulations on all your achievements and we know that you, and Instruments in the Attic, will continue to make a positive impact with the students in your community through the universal gift of music.”

The Instruments in the Attic program accepts gently-used instruments from generous community members who no longer have need of them, but can’t bear the thought of throwing them away. As funding allows, the Academy repairs the instruments to playable condition (as necessary) and then places them in various school or community music programs and into the hands of deserving young students who might not otherwise be able to participate in the joy of music-making.

Through the Teaching Scholars program (also part of Instruments in the Attic), a select group of Mason School of Music students (often Music Education majors) are awarded scholarships based on academic achievement and passion for music education. These Teaching Scholars are sent to local schools in the community to provide auxiliary music classes for young students, as well as auxiliary support to the music teachers in those schools.

 

(Academy staff with the Dale Earnhardt limited edition Epiphone guitar)

 

The financial award from the Dale Earnhardt Foundation will allow for more instruments to be repaired and “re-used”, and will increase the number of Teaching Scholar scholarship awards that can be given. The heightened exposure of the program will also provide long-term sustainable benefits.

We would like to give a very sincere thank you to the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, and the Earnhardt family, for recognizing our efforts to give access to quality music education and experiences to all community members, and for helping us “recycle” the love of music for all to enjoy!

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DALE EARNHARDT FOUNDATION

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT INSTRUMENTS IN THE ATTIC

 

Through our Instruments in the Attic program, the Academy was recently able to loan out 15 acoustic guitars to children at Harding Avenue Elementary School in Blacksburg, VA, to help them establish a “Guitar Club” for 4th and 5th grade students.

The outreach effort was coordinated between Mason Guitar Professor Glen McCarthy and Harding Avenue Elementary teacher Will Holliman,  who heard about the Instruments in the Attic program through a family friend. The donated guitars will be used in general music classes, individual lessons, and guitar-specific classes .

“I envision these instruments building connections with more music programs and with Virginia Tech which is right next door to us,” said Mr. Holliman. “Students will be able to check out these instruments which will provide access to an instrument in the home. This will give students opportunities in music they would not otherwise have access to.”

 

 

See Blacksburg, VA on a map!

Providing instruments to students in need is a core objective of our Instruments in the Attic program, which accepts generously donated instruments from community members, repairs them as needed (and as funding allows), and identifies areas of need to place them in. Please consider donating an instrument and/or making a financial gift to support our continuing efforts to provide access to the arts for everyone regardless of circumstance!

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR OUTREACH PROGRAMS

 

This past spring, a small group of musicians, educators and philanthropists – including Potomac Arts Academy staff and board members – traveled to Costa Rica on a mission. They had been invited by SINEM Academic Director Ernesto Brenes to visit their arts-based outreach programs and explore ways that Mason and SINEM might collaborate to bring hope through music to challenged communities in the region.

Out of this trip and the ensuing meetings, on-site program visits, discussions and brainstorming, the new “International Teachings Scholars” program was born: a multi-faceted partnership between Mason’s School of Music, Mason’s Potomac Arts Academy, the Instituto Nacional de la Musica in San Jose, El Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical (SINEM), Leon 13 and Conservatorio de Castella.

 

 

Many communities in and around San Jose strive with poverty and crime. Within these communities, children and families struggle with basic needs, let alone access to arts education. The SINEM program is a multi-group effort that is seeking to not only bring meaningful arts education to this population, but to allow the transformative power of the arts to give hope and inspiration to these communities in profound ways.

“It would be hard to describe in English or Spanish the impact our trip to Costa Rica had on me personally,” explained Day Violins co-owner and Potomac board member Jenna Day. “Passion for music transcends all languages and borders and social classes and it was never more clear than when we were in the midst of the wonderful teachers and children of Costa Rica.”

“My most memorable moment of the trip was when we were at the final school visit, and I apologetically handed one of the orchestra teachers a small bag of violin strings. She immediately burst into tears and hugged me so tightly that I also became emotional. My small (and to me insignificant) contribution meant so much more to her. It made me realize how even a little can go a long way.”

“Another powerful moment was looking at the neighborhood at the first school visit. The neighborhood was built on top of a garbage dump and yet these children faithfully showed up for music and art lessons. They knew they could rise above their circumstances when given the chance.”

 

 

Participation and attendance are high in these SINEM schools, and the humble program facilities are often considered “safe zones” in the communities they serve. Music, visual art and dance classes and lessons are provided to kids and teens. In fact, the programs are so popular, that instruments and supplies quickly fall short of demand. Furthermore, the wonderful instructors often need more training to be more effective as educators. That’s where the Academy’s Instruments in the Attic program and Mason School of Music’s “International Teaching Scholars” program come in!

“On our initial trip to Costa Rica, we saw amazing music outreach programs in under-served communities and the positive changes that these programs bring to so many lives,” said Potomac Arts Academy director Libby Curtis. “But we also saw the need for more instruments and support so that more students can participate. The ‘International Teaching Scholars’ program will be a life-changing experience for our Mason students by connecting instruments from Instruments in the Attic to these programs and providing opportunities to learn from each other through the language of music.”

 

 

An official academic program of Mason’s School of Music, the “International Teaching Scholars” program is a two-week summer intensive, wherein a select group of Mason Music students will travel to Costa Rica for a two-pronged objective. The first week, the Mason students will learn, rehearse and perform alongside their peers at the Nacional Instituto de la Musica in San Jose – a form of musical cultural exchange. The second week, the Mason students will enjoy a rich experience of working closely with SINEM school teachers and students in the local communities. They will also deliver donated musical instruments from the Academy’s Instruments in the Attic program and coordinate with Day Violins to help repair and maintain the instruments. Special performances will complete each week.

“This is a unique program that only Mason can provide,” said Mason Music professor and Potomac board member John Kilkenny. “While we know it will be transformative for many students in Costa Rica – we have no doubt it will also be our students who are changed!”

 

 

“[This project is] truly making a difference. . . a transformational difference in the lives of our Mason Music students and in the lives of the music students we touch in Costa Rica,” said Mason School of Music director Linda Monson.

The inaugural group of “International Teaching Scholars” is scheduled to go to Costa Rica in May 2017. More updates to follow!

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OF OUR OUTREACH PROGRAMS

 

See Video about the SINEM program in Costa Rica (video is in Spanish):