Annual Peoria area spring event celebrates the arts in schools

By Elise Zwicky For Chronicle Media
 Students from Peoria’s Richwoods High School perform at last year’s Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Spring Celebration at the Peoria County Courthouse Plaza. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekdays from April 22-May 27. (Photo courtesy of Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Spring Celebration.)


Students from Peoria’s Richwoods High School perform at last year’s Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Spring Celebration at the Peoria County Courthouse Plaza. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekdays from April 22-May 27. (Photo courtesy of Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Spring Celebration.)

The Peoria County Courthouse plaza will soon be filled with band music, singing, dancing and artwork as the 31st annual Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Spring Celebration kicks off April 22.

The event runs through May 27 and brings more than 1,000 students from at least 100 schools to downtown Peoria to showcase their talent. The free entertainment takes place from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday during the five-week program.

The performances move to Northwoods Mall if inclement weather strikes.

“I think it’s something the public enjoys, and we know the kids enjoy it,” said Spring Celebration Project Director Mary Rous. “I think it’s the legacy about it that keeps it going. When you mention it, people immediately say, ‘Oh, I was part of that” or “My children were part of that.’ It’s something they always remember.”

Coordinated through the Peoria County Regional Office of Education, the program was named for its creator, Gerald M. Brookhart, in 2014 when he retired after 31 years as the Peoria County Regional Office of Education Superintendent.

Brookhart has said he started the Spring Celebration at a time when fine arts classes in Illinois schools were being substantially reduced or eliminated due to the loss of school funding, a situation that continues today.

The daily performances take place simultaneously on three staging areas, while art exhibits and demonstrations are placed in prominent locations around the plaza. The event features band, orchestra, choir, drama, dance and speech performances, as well as exhibits and demonstrations such as drawing, collage, ceramics, photography, woodworking, agriculture and clothing.

While the program was originally designed for Peoria County schools, it’s grown to include schools from seven counties: Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, McLean, Fulton, Marshall and Henry.

“A lot of the schools will come down and have a picnic and make an entire day of it,” Rous said. “Many of them also enjoy eating at the push carts that are set up in the plaza. Many of the push cart owners give us a donation at the end of the year to help support our cause.”

 Retired Peoria County Regional Office of Education superintendent Gerald M. Brookhart speaks at last year’s Arts in Education Spring Celebration, which was named for him after his retirement in 2014. Brookhart started the event 31 years ago when fine arts classes in Illinois schools were being reduced or eliminated due to funding cuts. (Photo courtesy of Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Spring Celebration.)


Retired Peoria County Regional Office of Education superintendent Gerald M. Brookhart speaks at last year’s Arts in Education Spring Celebration, which was named for him after his retirement in 2014. Brookhart started the event 31 years ago when fine arts classes in Illinois schools were being reduced or eliminated due to funding cuts. (Photo courtesy of Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Spring Celebration.)

This year the Spring Celebration is collaborating with Sculpture Walk Peoria, which received a grant to publish a 24-page educational booklet featuring coloring pages and activities for each of the 15 sculptures currently displayed in the Warehouse District. The grant came from the Eugene and Harriet Swager Fund for Public Art of the Community Foundation of Central Illinois.

Free copies of the booklet are available upon request to all art teachers and students participating in the Spring Celebration. Participating teachers are encouraged to use the booklet in their classroom and visit the Sculpture Walk with their students when they participate in Spring Celebration.

“Our hope is that the teachers will use the booklets to teach the kids about the sculptures and maybe tour the Sculpture Walk after their performances either on foot or by bus,” Rous said.

Joe Richey, Sculpture Walk Peoria chairman, noted, “We have also had requests for the Sculpture Walk Peoria educational booklet from several adult community living centers in the region. Several of these living centers are conducting the sculpture ‘walk’ by bus and then the residents are using the education booklet as a follow-up activity.”

Participants in the Spring Celebration are also encouraged to visit the Riverfront Museum or the Caterpillar Visitor Center after their performances. As the Spring Celebration primary sponsor, Caterpillar offers a discount to the Visitor Center for participating schools.

Other business sponsors include Commerce Bank, the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Associate Bank, Ameren Illinois, Technicraft, Heartland Bank, Kidder Music, South Side Trust & Savings Bank and Peoria County.

“Without our sponsors, we couldn’t keep this thing going, though we did lose a couple of our corporate sponsors this year,” Rous said.

“The Regional Office of Education sponsors the GMB Arts in Education Spring Celebration, but we don’t have a line item budget for it,” she said, noting that the event is funded strictly through donations and sponsors.

Rous is seeking more participants in the sponsor-for-a-day program that was started last year and allows businesses, booster clubs or other organizations to donate $135 to cover the cost of one stage or $400 for all three stages on any given day.

“We had a few sponsors-for-a-day last year, and we’re trying to build on that this year,” Rous said. “We’re trying to upgrade our equipment, because a lot of it is 15 to 20 years old. That includes some of those stands that the art is attached to and our keyboards and the sound system. The key to this program is keeping it the quality program that people are used to.”

Among groups that have signed up to be a sponsor-for-a-day are the Dunlap High School music booster program, Michael Maloof Realty, Beachlers Vehicle Care and Repair and the Nut House.
Due to staffing cuts in the ROE office, Rous is also seeking volunteers to act as greeters and guides during the Spring Celebration.

“We need two to three people a day to meet the buses and direct the schools to their stages. It would be great to have retired teachers or parents or Spring Celebration alumni help out,” Rous said.

Anyone who misses a performance this year will be able to view snippets of it on a new Spring Celebration YouTube channel.

“The neat thing about this event is these kids will remember this. It doesn’t matter whether you are

the soloist or if it’s your first time on stage, they’ll remember being on that stage,” Rous said.

For more information on the Spring Celebration or how to become a sponsor or volunteer, call Mary Rous at (309) 672-6906 or email her at mrousarts@gmail.com or visit the website at www.springcelebration.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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