LEXINGTON MINUTEMAN
Munroe Center for the Arts announces fundraising appeal
The following press release was submitted by Pamela Rice with the Munroe Center for the Arts:
2020 has hit arts organizations hard, and Lexington's Munroe Center for the Arts is no exception. Operating during the pandemic has put financial stress on Munroe, and now more than ever, community support is needed.
Deep gratitude goes out to the families, students, staff, volunteers, patrons, leadership and artists who have supported Munroe in the past. The list is vast in breadth and depth, and has enabled Munroe to offer high quality programming and arts education, as well as to serve as an arts oasis and ongoing resource for Lexington and surrounding communities.
To this end, Munroe leadership and local artists are generously stepping up in support of Munroe, and are appealing to the greater community.
In response to eight months of cancelled and smaller classes and unexpected investments in facility health and safety measures that have wreaked havoc on Munroe's finances, 20-plus Munroe leaders past and present have joined together and pledged to match up to $20,000 in donations made by Dec. 31 to the Munroe Center for the Arts. This "$20K + $20K in 2020" challenge will ensure that Munroe can survive this financial crisis and remain the community's center and catalyst for collective arts exploration and expression.
Munroe's match challenge lead donors are Bob Adams, Don Bailey, Kim Coburn, Lisa Emsbo Mattingly, Ted Finch, Gary Garberg, Greig Greenwald, Tom Griffiths, Amy Kaser, Peter Kelley, Star Lancaster, Brent Maracle, Colin Masson, Erin McCormack, Merrill Meadow, Roberta Messina, Steve Poltorzycki, Cameron Purdy, Epp Sonin, Cammy Thomas, Harriet Vitto and Deb Weiner.
In addition to the donation match program, a cast of artists are also coming to the aid of Munroe with a fundraising concert on Dec. 5 titled "I Speak My Mind — With Tagore's Poems and Songs." This online performance will be filled with music and dance and centered around bringing the community closer together even when residents have to be physically apart.
Maitreyee Chakraborty is the lead performer and will be joined by Mona Roy, Raka Datta, Koushik Chakrabarty, Debadeep Bhattacharyya, Joy Nag, Nabaneeta Nag, Ayon Basumallik, Pubali Goswami, Sumakshi Das, Sanchita, Srishti, Tanisha and Ishanaa.
The performance is appropriate for all ages and includes scrolling English translations.
In the words of the artists: "Since the beginning of time, the arts have always been a crucial and universal connector bringing diverse groups of people together. Now more than ever, we need to hold on to our shared humanity by connecting with each other even when we cannot be physically together. Attending programs such as this one is an opportunity to share in community and compassion. As much as books feed our knowledge, the arts feed our soul. This will be a chance to support the Munroe Center for the Arts and also to connect with each other through the music of Tagore and his universalist message."
For information, visit http://munroecenter.org.