COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Atherton Arts Committee has orchestrated a variety of public projects, musical performances, lectures, museum trips, demonstrations and visits to theatrical events over the last eight years.

On April 2, 2004, the AAC brought Tiffany & Co. with Director Giles Marsden to the community. His lecture and presentation was of Tiffany & Co., Design through the Decades, Artistry and Design in Jewelry and Silver. The event was held at the magnificent Stent Hall on the Menlo School campus. Tiffany & Co. made it possible for AAC to sell their Tiffany & Co. Flora and Fauna books to benefit the work of the Arts Committee.

Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley visited Atherton on January 24, 2004 through the auspices of the AAC. Artistic Director Dennis Nahat thrilled the audience with his dancers performing a preview of the ballet’s upcoming season. Of great interest were segments from Nahat’s “Blue Swede Shoes”, music by Elvis Presley.

Past public projects have included the highly successful Community Stone Carving, now seen in the Atherton Library’s reading garden, a day with Jim Gamble Puppet Company, and Make-a-Circus which have given the community a chance to participate in local art making and performances.

Each year, the AAC organizes events to accommodate the needs of our music enthusiasts. Musical presentations include the Summer Concert, “Big Daddy Jazz”, “Autumn Stars”, and the “Holidays Around the World” performance of the Menlo School Choir and Chamber Ensemble.

Group ticket purchases for theatrical performances throughout the San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties have been well attended. Such performances have included Cirque de Soleil, Smuin Ballets, and Fox Theatre/Villa Montalvo presentations in Redwood City. In 1999 Ballerina Evelyn Cisneros of the San Francisco Ballet Company came and spoke at Holbrook Palmer Park.

The AAC is committed to enhancing the lives of Atherton residents and the surrounding communities. Over the course of the year, several hands-on studio arts classes are offered to beginning, intermediate and advanced artists, in recognition of the value of the development of personal creativity, expression, and techniques in the making of art. Our after-school, “Art in the Park” sessions for students from 2.5 years old to adult have been extremely well received as well as our Summer Art sessions. These programs are continuing and include ceramics classes for kids, ceramics open studios for adults and a preschool painting and drawing class. These are always great fun. Information and registration for all classes can be accessed on line through this web site.

Over the last several years, the AAC has grown to establish lasting partnerships with organizations such as ArtShare, the Peninsula Symphony, the California Conservatory of Music, Menlo School, the jazz authority Dr. Herb Wong, and most recently, Play-TEKnologies and Kollage Community School of the Arts, an independent organization serving over 9,000 families in San Mateo County.