September, 2015 – CAFCI Annual Friendship Ball
September, 2015 – Bringing Harley Earl Back to the Spotlight
September, 2015 – Bringing the Story of Harley Earl Back to the Spotlight
By Krista Martinelli
Harley J. Earl is “credited for single-handedly igniting an automobile renaissance. His legacy has been compared to Leonardo da Vinci and even Steve Jobs” (from “Steve Jobs and the King of Stylish Cars,” CNN, Thom Patterson). In America, we should know his name, as easily as knowing Ford and Edison and yes, Steve Jobs. After all, this new kind of “Car Architect” as Harley’s youngest grandson, Richard Earl, likes to say, also fathered the Corvette and launched so many other creative innovative new products and lifestyle creations The Detroit News dubbed him, The Man Who Invented The Modern Car after his 1969 death at 75 years old.
The Grosse Pointe News reported in 1997 that, “Earl (Richard) is planning to write a book about his legendary grandfather and moved from New York City to the Detroit area to pursue the project. Here he found that history is often controversy in this industry of high rollers, giant egos and big money.” 18 years later, Richard’s gained an incredible insight into everything past, present and future about the American auto industry.
When I talk to car collectors, they do know of Harley’s legacy. Also, people who are interested in art and design are often familiar with his highly inspirational auto industry story. Earl was born in 1893 in Hollywood, California and died in 1969 in West Palm Beach. In between those dates, he did a lot for the auto industry and the modern business world in general.
Let’s look at his key contributions first.
- The Concept Car. Harley Earl began modeling GM’s dream cars of the future, something that had not been done before. His cars of the future were so forward-thinking; they “broke the mold.”
- His team of Women Car Designers. In 1955, Earl hired a team of seven women into his design skunk works. This naturally upset the all-male dominated engineering world at the time.
- Father of the Corvette. Earl was the designer and the inventor of the Corvette, which is now 60 years old. Most people don’t know it today but Earl was also a highly decorated auto engineer.
- The Annual Model Change. When Harley Earl entered the scene in Detroit, changing out the model of cars was not done every year. With his eye for design, Earl made it happen by anticipating America’s needs, coming out with a new model each year. He created a “business paradigm that’s shaped products throughout American industry, from can openers to tractors to iPhones.” (http://www.harleyjearl.com/topmilestones/)
- Clay Modeling and Graphic Engineering. Earl went about designing cars in a brand new way for his time. He was the first to make models out of clay, which continues to be done in 95% of the auto industry today. Bringing art and design to the table, he also used graphic engineering to design cars.
- Interior Design and Color. Before Harley Earl came along, we had Ford’s Model T’s which primarily came in one color – black. Earl insisted on colors (plural) and design as important aspects of the future of the car industry. Thus, a brand new DesignBuilding was born at GM. Detroit’s Dependency on Design, now the global automotive economy is hooked.
- Tailfins. What do you think of when you think of the era of classic cars? Yes, tailfins! Another key element that Harley Earl added to cars in the 50’s.
- Automobile Design. From the late 20’s to the 50’s, Harley Earl dreamed up cars that were ahead of their time. He married the auto industry with design. And gave birth to the whole industry of auto design.
- Making Detroit the Production Capital of the World. In the 30s, 40s and 50s in Detroit, millions of jobs were created. GM rose to being the number one manufacturer in the world, surpassing Ford by a long shot. Detroit was the design capital of the U.S., all thanks to Harley Earl’s vision.
I asked Richard about his personal relationship with Harley, but his being the youngest grandson out of eight grandchildren, he explains he didn’t get a tremendous amount of quality time but remembers one sweet ride in a custom Corvette around Palm Beach. It was a bright blue custom 1963 Sting Ray convertible with side pipes, and they raised eyebrows as they cruised around Palm Beach together, a thrilling day out for a young Richard. Realizing what his grandfather achieved, Richard now says, “My ultimate dream is to just become a small measure of success up against what other family members did for the American auto world, like my great-grandfather Jacob W.(JW) Earl and his son Harley.” Yes, Harley’s father JW was a late 19th century coach-builder who quickly transitioned into the automobile business.
Today Richard Earl gives talks about how inspirational leaders from Detroit’s mid-twentieth century, like Harley Earl, can broaden people’s vision and asks questions like, “How do we jump start America’s auto capital, so it can start having a repeat performance of its past glory?” when he talks to his audiences. When people talk about Detroit, it’s usually a story of “an epic fall from grace.” Where has our vision of the future gone? This is a question he has asked himself countless times. And the answer is easy, according to Richard. America’s auto industry leaders need to put design first again, ahead of everything else. “GM was so sophisticated in the mid-century,” he says. “It was the technology epicenter of the world and design was it’s sword of power.”
Another ahead-of-his-time trait of Harley Earl was being inclusive. He understood marketing. And even before the era of modern women’s rights, he said, “women influence 75% of all car purchases, and when women go shopping for automobiles they know what they want.” He hired a team of seven women to design the interiors of ten cars. His coworkers at GM at the time were shocked by this bold move. The media called this team of women the Designing Damsels. As Richard Earl re-tells the story, “Decades before there was any traction with women’s rights in Washington, DC, here’s this individual who in the largest business saying, ‘Let’s just hire women. And let’s elevate them.’ Harley Earl didn’t need a law passed in Washington. He just knew it was right.”
Harley Earl designed the Corvette. He had been a race car driver as a kid and spent time in Watkins Glen, New York with the racetrack community. He started seeing European two-seater cars and asked the question, “Where’s ours?” He wanted to know why the U.S. wasn’t keeping up. As Richard explains, he “fused art and engineering” to come with the Corvette. While Belgian-born Zora Arkus-Duntov went on to help make the Corvette competitive with a hard, performance edge, Harley Earl came up with the original blue print for the Corvette. Also, Earl believed in the Corvette and stayed loyal to it, even when it was initially disregarded by many. It’s similar to the story at Apple. Steve Jobs is the father of Apple and iPhones as we know them today, although Steve Wozniak is the engineer who made the vision come true in the early days of the company by building the first Apple computer. However, Jobs is the one that “thought it up” and pushed it forward. Just like Harley Earl and the Corvette.
Clay Modeling and Concept Cars
Earl had an experience as a teenager on a family vacation at Bailey’s Ranch in California, where he came across a clay hollow in 1908. He was fascinated with working with clay and made several clay models of future automobiles. He continued working with clay and even made large models, using saw horses for a foundation. Instead of not noticing what his son was up to, his father said to Harley, “You’ve really got something here.” The clay turned out to be a great blue print for designing automobiles. “In the 30s, 40s and 50s, Harley Earl brought design to Detroit, sparking a new flame that would create millions of jobs making Detroit the design capitol of the United States during the mid-twentieth century,” says Richard Earl.
Harley Earl was also responsible for the Concept Car. Again, the true Concept Car wouldn’t have been possibly without the clay modeling. His first Concept Car was the Buick Y-Job, and then he went on to make Concept Cars a way to test the response of the public, a way to bolster interest in the auto industry, and a way to bring car shows to the mainstream.
The Annual Model Change
The Annual Model Change was another big innovation which came from Harley Earl’s design center at GM. “This modern business invention, originally touted as the annual Styling Model Change by Harley Earl, remains to this day the lifeblood of capitalism and has morphed into almost every product design circle there is from Shanghai to Chicago,” says Richard Earl. Just think about the drama when Apple unveils its next iPhone every year. Or the next big product reveal from just about any company world-wide, whether it’s a new toaster, a new deodorant or a new computer. Annual model changes and new designs fuel capitalism. Before Earl, no one was asking for an annual new design in the car industry. With his Design Campus at GM, where he worked until retiring in 1958, Harley Earl made it so.
A Personal Sense of Style and Fashion
“Harley just had that sense – he always knew what he wanted . . . His cars were as flamboyant as his wardrobe,” says Richard Earl. See the video.
See what Richard refers to as the second greatest invention in the history of transportation (after the horse)! See the video.
A Bit of History
If you go to see Richard Earl speak, and I recommend that you do, you will find that there’s a big history component to the Harley J. Earl story. “GM was the arsenal of democracy during and after World War II,” he explains. He asks the question, “Why was GM investing so heavily in cars of the future, even before World War II was over?” This was at a trying time, when people were worried about the future and strapped for cash. It was this great confidence in America – that we would win the war. This spirit drove production.
For a short time, General Motors brought back the legend of Harley Earl in some TV commercials from 2001 to 2004. In this video with Tiger Woods, which Richard penned the original contract to get it rolling, Harley Earl is honored for his achievements at GM. See the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4AOlgusDYw
However, we are all still waiting. Waiting for the leaders of America’s car industry to come around again and truly put design before dollar signs when they come out with their next cars. Waiting for the spirit of Harley J. Earl to come back into the industry. If that happens in his lifetime, Richard Earl will feel like he’s accomplished perhaps his most important mission.
Richard Earl’s Next Public Talk
Richard Earl to Speak about the Legacy of Harley Earl
October 10th, 6pm, Mandel Library, West Palm Beach, FL
This event is FREE and open to the public. See the flyer.
For more information about Harley J. Earl
Visit HarleyJEarl.com
September, 2015 – Being Prepared and Getting Involved
Mayor’s Column
September, 2015
By Mayor Bob Margolis
Three months into the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season Wellington had its first encounter with a Tropical Storm. Erika brought moderate rain to the Village and we continue to monitor weather forecasts. The Village urges residents to postpone all tree trimming projects until the end of the hurricane season. Once the National Weather Service has named a storm and identified that Palm BeachCounty could be in the path, the following steps should be taken to minimize waste:
- Do not place bulk trash at the curb. Services may be suspended and facilities may close early to prepare for the storm.
- Do not cut down any trees or begin major work.
- Do not begin construction projects that could produce debris.
- Once a watch or warning has been issued, do not trim vegetation of any kind.
Mass cutting places a tremendous burden on the normal collection process and there is not enough equipment or manpower to collect the additional material before the storm makes landfall. Avoid putting you and your property in harm’s way.
I encourage you to sign up for our Code RED Emergency Notification System. This system allows the Village to call residents in the event of an emergency. Register now at: https://wellingtonfl.gov/codered.
This month we are also continuing our K Park Town Hall meetings. Join me on Tuesday, September 8th at 7:00p.m. at Village Hall for another chance to comment on the future of the K Park property located at the southwest corner of State Road 7 and Stribling Way. There will be a brief presentation on the site’s history, followed by an interactive polling session and will wrap up with public comments. Previous meetings can be viewed via the Village’s website at https://wellingtonfl.gov/kpark.
The Village is also looking for your input on the development of the Equestrian Master Plan. I invite you to take part in our online survey at https://epajuly.surveyanalytics.com/. The survey will assist Village staff in gathering data related to traffic and seasonal fluctuations of horses and people. All responses are anonymous.
Finally, I encourage you to sign up for our monthly newsletter, where we keep you up to date on matters that affect our community. Click on the following link to begin receiving updates: http://wellingtonfl.gov/living/wellington-newsletter/signup
I look forward to seeing you Around Wellington, our Great Hometown this month.
September, 2015 – Carol Brody, Featured Artist
Carol Z. Brody will be featured artist at Wellington Art Society
Carol Z. Brody, NWS, FWS will be the featured demonstrator at the Wellington Art Society open house reception on September 8, 2015 at Bootz Culture Camp, 420 State Road 7, Suite 120, Royal Palm Beach. The meet and greet reception with refreshments will begin at 6:30, followed by a member spotlight and brief meeting. Carol’s demonstration will highlight the meeting. The evening will close with a fabulous raffle. We invite all artists and art lovers to join us and enjoy meeting fellow artists and learning about the Wellington Art Society.
Carol Brody is a distinguished and internationally know watercolor artist. She is a native New Yorker and a graduate of Brooklyn College with additional studies at Parson School of Design and many prominent watercolor artists. She now resides in Wellington.
Her paintings reflect her love of color and texture. She allows her paintings to begin as a flow of feelings, intuition and spirit. As her paintings grown and emerge they begin to suggest a form which she develops by many layers of glazing.
Carol has won many awards for her beautiful wet-in-wet paintings. She is also an inspiring teacher since 1987, sharing her personal color palette along with glazes and other techniques. She gives workshops and serves as an exhibit juror.
She is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, Florida Watercolor Society and others and has been featured in many art magazines. Carol has had eight major one person exhibits in New York and West Palm Beach. Her paintings hang in many private homes and corporate offices including UBS Paine Webber, Price Waterhouse and Kent State University School of Art in Ohio.
The Wellington Art Society is a non-profit charitable organization in its 34th year. It is open to artists of all mediums and patrons of the arts, allowing both local and regional artists to display their art work in local galleries, interact with other artists and serve the community through their art.
For more information visit WellingtonArtSociety.org
September, 2015 – 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony
Wellington to Host 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at Patriot Memorial
The community is invited to join Wellington’s Council at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 11, 2015 to honor the victims of 9/11 at a remembrance ceremony at the Patriot Memorial located next to Village Hall at 12198 Forest Hill Boulevard. The Village Council will make remarks and lay a wreath for those lost and affected by the attacks. Guest speakers will include John Napolitano, a Wellington resident who lost his FDNY member son, Lt. John P. Napolitano, Fire Rescue 2, in the tragedy, and Denise Makarius, a Wellington resident who lost her husband from the effects of the tragedy.
Wellington dedicated its Patriot Memorial four years ago on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The memorial includes one of the largest steel beams salvaged from the World Trade Center, as well as an eternal flame fountain and etched glass panels inscribed with the names of the victims.
As another way to stay informed on the latest news and updates from the Village, residents are invited to sign up for Wellington information and updates at www.wellingtonfl.gov/enews.
For information about other Wellington programs, events, activities, and updates, please visit www.wellingtonfl.gov or watch Channel 18 for the latest happenings.
September, 2015 – What…No Children?
Health & Fitness
WHAT… NO CHILDREN?
By Cheryl Alker
So the day you were waiting for, or not, has finally arrived. The children have now returned back to school and all of a sudden you have some extra time on your hands. Before you get used to that extra time and once again find yourself not having enough minutes, let alone hours in the day, take the opportunity to re-assert your fitness regime into your schedule.
Soon we will be experiencing the change of seasons and after the heat of summer, fall no matter where you live, is often a breath of fresh air. Take this opportunity to rethink and restart a healthy approach to your fitness and overall wellbeing.
The first question you have to ask yourself is what type of exercise you want?
- Do you love to swim? Swimming is a great overall body workout and for anyone wishing to reduce impact through the joints, then swimming really fits the bill. Ensure you vary your strokes so as not cause a repetitive strain injury.
- Are gyms your thing? If you need variety to keep you motivated, you’ll need a gym with a lot of group classes, maybe a racquetball and basketball court and many different types of machines. If you just need to get in and out, find a facility set up for a “quickie workout;” this way you won’t be paying for all the classes and amenities you won’t be using.
- If your daily life runs at 110 miles per hour, maybe you need to consider some balance, therefore, a mind/body studio that offers, yoga, stretch and Pilates would be more beneficial.
- If you are the outdoor type take advantage of the weather. These months are a great time to exercise outdoors and enjoy cooler temperatures. For those of us in Florida the beach is a great time for activities as it is so much less crowded. What about a game of volleyball, Frisbee, or playing a vigorous game of fetch with your dog. If you live near a lake, try paddle boarding, kayaking or canoeing for an excellent whole-body workout and a great change of pace. Discover park trails and take in some new scenery, whether you’re walking, biking, or in-line skating. And remember, it doesn’t have to seem like exercise to be a great workout just raking leaves or doing some fall outdoor yard work is a great way to get the heart pumping, and it’s a great way to calorie-burn.
No matter what your preference, consider finding a “workout buddy.” Making an appointment with someone, whether it a friend, a group of mother’s dropping their child off at the same school, or a trainer ensures a greater chance that you won’t cancel on yourself. No matter how you feel on your workout day, make yourself a promise that you do at least 10 minutes. If, after that first 10 minutes, you are still not up to the challenge then stop and go home. You will often find the most difficult part of your workout is getting there, once you have started it really is not that bad!
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Cheryl Alker specializes in flexibility training, facial exercises and postural alignment. Her 30 year career started as a group fitness and personal trainer, she has lectured and directed fitness training programs in both Europe and the USA and was an advisor for a Governmental health promotion program. Alker and her company Stretch Results International continues to work with a select clientele from a base in Palm Beach County, Florida, certifying health professionals in her results based stretching program, educating consumers through public speaking and offering consultation to clients who wish to lose their muscular pain and gain flexibility to achieve full and active lifestyles. Alker has a proven totally natural program that alleviates back pain visit www.secretbackpaincure.com. For more information about professional continuing education and consultation options, e:books or DVD’s please call Cheryl on 561 889 3738 or visit www.stretchresults.com.
September, 2015 – The Truth about Chiropractic
Ask the Docs
The Truth!
Don’t read this if you want to feel better!
By Dr. Randy Laurich
I say, “Don’t read this if you want to feel better, but read it if you want to heal better.”
Science, philosophy, and art – what does this have to do with feeling better or healing better? Well, the science behind chiropractic is documented with research and years of proof that when the nervous system functions better, the entire body functions better. The philosophy of chiropractic is if the intelligence of the human body has interference then it doesn’t function the way it was originally intended. Just like a finely tuned automobile, your body needs fine tuning and chiropractic can help tune your system. We are the only profession that looks at the structure of the neural-skeleton, which is comprised of the spine’s structure and how it relates to the nerves. The art of chiropractic is based on how each doctor corrects the structure of the spine. Some doctors use a full spine approach, some doctors just adjust one or two bones of the spine and some doctors use instruments to adjust. What does it mean to adjust the spine or structure? An adjustment is a force into the structure of the spine to allow the impulse from the brain to get through without interference.
The weight of a dime can decrease the function of a nerve by 60%.
The most important thing to understand is chiropractors help the nervous system to function better, allowing the body to function and respond to stress. To learn more, please call The Wellness Experience at 561-333-5351.
If you would like to hear more about how you can improve your quality of life, Dr. Randy Laurich will be presenting, “How to Heal Better” on Thursday, September 24 from 5:30-7pm at the Wellness Experience in Wellington. Refreshments and light bites will be served.
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Dr. Randall Laurich
Chiropractor
The Wellness Experience of Wellington, Inc.
(561) 333-5351
Helping to make Wellington Well!
September, 2015 – Creating Memories of Summer
Cultural Corner
Creating Memories of Summer
. . . With Your Smartphone
By Lori Hope Baumel
Fireboat John J. Harvey
Created by LH Baumel on the iPad with the photo/painting app Artrage
Hopefully, you are settling in to your back-to-school, work and post-summer routines. Some may be welcoming the new start; others may be lamenting the end of wonderful vacations, homework-free evenings and long days of sunlight.
With the prevalence of smartphones and their multiple uses as both still and video cameras, most likely, you photographed or recorded the weekly events of the past few months. If so, why not dial up these visual memories in a creative format?
Using iMovie, I created video vignettes of vacations and special occasions. Thereafter, I posted the finished products to YouTube (as a private link) to share with friends and family. I found it easier to “tell the story” with a short movie than to write about it, post it to Facebook or send out a few pictures at a time.
What is most amazing is that I created each and every one of my “movies” right in my iPhone. No computer, no Internet, no transferring of pictures… basically, no hassle! I simply opened the iMovie app, dragged and dropped photos and videos directly into a timeline and created a short film within minutes. iMovie provides templates with compatible music tracks or you can use a music track from your own iTunes library. Transitions, titles, effects and voice-over notes are simple to add. After assembling your footage, you can edit and refine your piece with the use of your finger or stylus. There’s a “help” feature within the app that assists you through the entire process. It’s creative, easy and fun! If you happen to have an Apple TV box, you have the option to upload your finished flick to iMovie Theater and watch it on your big screen (or any monitor) at home.
There are many Apple and YouTube tutorials on iMovie providing simple, user-friendly instructions on how it’s done. For more information go to:
https://www.apple.com/support/ios/imovie/
If you’re an Android user there are plenty of options as well. Video Show and Vidtrim are two popular smartphone movie-building apps. For more information on these Android video-editors see:
http://www.iskysoft.com/video-editing/top-imovie-for-android.html
We live in an incredible time. Yes, there are negative aspects to being plugged in 24/7. But, if you happened to take a vacation in the woods, at the beach or some faraway place… you can relive those moments again and again.
Below is a movie I created while sailing on the Fireboat John J. Harvey up the Hudson. It was a once in a lifetime experience afforded to me by my son, Sam, who was mapping the Hudson River from New York City to the Erie Canal for Google maps. I shot and edited the entire movie on my iPhone (within an hour) as the boat was on the last leg of her journey. I titled the film Butterfly on The Hudson.
Enjoy!
Live… Go… DO!
Top Five for September 2015
1) Read: The President’s Shadow by Brad Meltzer.
This past summer I had the privilege of interviewing south Florida based novelist Brad Meltzer for the second time in two years. Brad is an inspiring, energetic and intriguing man. His talent for storytelling is immeasurable, both in person and in his books. Meltzer has a gift for combining actual historical events within his fictional stories. The President’s Shadow is a real page-turner and includes little-known facts about Chief Executives and the Secret Service. Did you know that there is a direct connection to those who plotted the assassination of President Lincoln and South Florida? The last hundred pages of The President’s Shadow are mind-boggling. If you are a lover of history, fiction and a puzzle solver, this book is for you!
In addition to The President’s Shadow, Meltzer has released a series of children’s books that inspire children to dream big, one role model at a time. The theme “we can all be heroes” permeates the collection. Meltzer envisioned this friendly approach to biography – for his own kids, and wants you to share it with the children in your life. Each book tells the story of an American icon in a conversational way that works well for young nonfiction readers.
Did you know that Lucille Ball was the first woman to head a major television production studio? Founded in 1950, Ball’s Desilu studios produced I Love Lucy, Star Trek, The Untouchables and many more.
For a REAL FUN ride… watch Brad give you a tour of his office in this YouTube video. It will give you an intimate view of the author and what motivates his writing. See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=29&v=_zBsx9MrRlQ
For a plethora of information and entertaining facts about Brad Meltzer and his many books go to:
2) Listen to an extraordinary interview with Brad Meltzer on WLRN’s Topical Currents. This podcast is even more informative than when I spoke with Brad myself. Go to:
3) Visit the Norton Museum of Art and see:
Going Places:
An Examination of the 20th-Century Transportation Revolution
Model planes, trains, automobiles, concept sketches, posters, newsreels, film clips capture the excitement of getting from one place to another and highlight the transformation of travel.
The Norton Museum of Art’s exhibition, Going Places: Transportation Designs from the Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection, focuses on the art of transportation design during the mid-20th century, and is on view through Jan. 10, 2016. For decades, Mr. Sharf has been fascinated by how the pace of life accelerated in the middle decades of the 20th century. Via model planes, trains, and, most of all, automobiles, he looked to capture the excitement of getting from one place to another. (He and his wife, Jean, are part-time Palm Beach residents.)
Featuring more than 200 objects, including design drawings, concept sketches, renderings, advertising art, and posters, as well as models of trains, planes, and automobiles, the exhibition literally examines how we got here. It also highlights the designers who created the look of the 20th-century vehicles that transported us and transformed the way we travel. The exhibition, which is augmented with related period newsreels, TV ads, and clips from classic films and television programs, includes objects from two previous exhibitions, Planes, Trains , and Automobiles, and The Great Age of the American Automobile, organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Wilmington Trust is the exhibition corporate sponsor.
Guest Curator Matthew Bird, a professor of Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design who organized last summer’s Wheels and Heels exhibition at the Norton, organized Going Places. Of the Sharfs’ collection, Bird says, “The models are incredibly detailed. The concept sketches present radical new realities. The renderings show, in an amazingly vivid realistic way, what a design will look like long before it actually exists, and, the amount of communicating the objects do, about location, aspiration, technology, who we were, who we thought we could become – amazing.”
Bird adds, “Going Places is the story of how engineering and design ingenuity created the transportation options we so take for granted today, and how artists and designers developed amazing tools — wind-tunnel test models, cut-away models, detailed renderings — to communicate these advances while inventing new vehicles.”
To view a short video on the exhibit…
(Yes… shot and edited on my iPhone with iMovie) see:
4) Get your tickets:
The Kravis Center season has been announced!
Don’t wait until the last minute. Plan ahead and see some of the finest entertainers from all over the world. The flashing marquee in front of the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts will be promoting a nonstop series of performances and an exciting and eclectic array of international artists and attractions from rock and pop to classical music and Broadway.
“Our 24th season promises to appeal to audiences of all ages and entertainment preferences, from Broadway razzle dazzle to offbeat musical sensations to delightful shows for children,” said Judith Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of the Kravis Center. “With such an extraordinary line-up of super stars and award-winning shows and amazing orchestras from all over the world, the Kravis Center is once again providing superior programming as sophisticated, diverse and as family-friendly as the community we serve.”
People can expect the best from Manhattan’s Great White Way with award-winning shows like Matilda The Musical, 42nd Street, Motown The Musical, Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway and The Bridges of Madison County The Musical. They can expect the world’s finest musical performers like 2Cellos, Tony Bennett, Itzhak Perlman, Patti LaBelle, Matisyahu, Kristen Chenowith and Dudu Fisher, plus the return of Michael Feinstein conducting the Kravis Center Pops Orchestra.”
In addition to performances in the Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. Concert Hall, the Kravis Center will present a diverse array of drama, music and dance in the Rinker Playhouse. Some of the Family Fare will be held in the outdoor Gosman Amphitheatre.
To view the brochure of the entire season, go to:
5) Support young artists and see:
MilaGROWTEENS: The Future
The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County
601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth – Through October 3, 2015
Gallery hours: 10AM- 5 PM Tuesday-Saturday.
The Milagro Center is collaborating with the Cultural Council on an exhibition presenting the artwork of teens, showcasing their talents to the community. At the Cultural Council, Arts Education is a priority. Through the continued work of its Cultural Education Committee (CEdC), the Council is committed to ensuring that our county’s young people have the best possible opportunities to reap the proven benefits that arts and culture bring to the educational experience. As an active CEdC member and partner, the Milagro Center embodies and shares in this community work and vision for arts accessibility and equity. Viewers can expect to see artwork that represents the individual voices and experiences of Delray teens, supported through the guidance of local Teaching Artists. The Milagro Center offers unique arts-integrated educational and cultural programs that serve as a catalyst for community collaboration, individual transformation and social change. The arts foster a spirit of entrepreneurship in teens; teaching them skills and fostering a temperament for creative success. The Milagro Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to ensure the social and academic success of children through cultural arts, Living Values, mentoring and academic support.
Connect with the Council: (561) 471-2901 or palmbeachculture.com
The Cultural Council is the official support agency for arts and culture for Palm Beach County serving non-profit organizations, individual artists and arts districts. The Council promotes the county’s cultural experiences through an integrated program of advertising, public relations and marketing activities to both visitors and residents. Each year, the Council administers more than $3.6 million in grants, supports arts and cultural education, provides capacity building training and advocates for funding and arts-friendly policies. Located in the historic Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. building in downtown Lake Worth, the Council mounts a series of group and solo exhibitions featuring Palm Beach County artists and provides other programming.
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Lori Hope Baumel and her husband Eric live in Wellington and have three children. Their eldest, Sam, 28, is a media producer and conceptual artist who currently resides in (extremely hipster) Brooklyn, NY. Her younger children, Evan and Rachel, wrote the Around Wellington “Teen Talk” column in previous years. Rachel, 25, has returned from Boston, MA and is a paid intern at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach. Evan, 23, graduated from American University in Washington D.C. and is an editor and public policy writer for VersaTech, Inc. His current assignment has him writing and editing for the Dept. of Defense Health Agency. Eric, has practiced radiology in Wellington since 1991. His many talents include artist, cook, photographer and, recently, medical app developer for both the iPhone and Apple Watch. You can learn more about Lori at www.loribaumel.com or read her blog:www.grownupcamp.tumblr.comSeptember, 2015 – To All the Grandchildren in the World
Cantankerously Yours
To all the grandchildren in the world
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This column first appeared shortly after the 9/11 tragedy in 2001. It has run every year since, with the author’s updates.)
By Wendell Abern
Dear Grandchildren Everywhere,
Today, I am writing to apologize to all of you.
Usually, I try to write humor. But fourteen years ago, terrorists killed thousands of Americans by flying airplanes into buildings. And this month, memorials and other reminders of that horrendous day make it impossible to write anything funny.
Instead, today, I want to apologize to everyone in your generation from everyone in mine.
My generation inherited one world war and lived through another. Millions of people were killed. We should have learned something from those terrible wars. We should have made the world a better place for you.
We didn’t. And we didn’t.
More than 150 years ago, a man by the name of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said, “What we learn from history … is that we never learn from history.”
My generation, like all of those that preceded it, confirms the truth of that statement.
We never learned the one thing that every human being on earth has in common: none of us asked to be here. We had no say in the matter at all. But once given the gift of life, no one should have the right to take it away. Yet human beings kill other human beings every day. Every hour. Every place on earth.
In wars, we kill each other by the millions, usually in the name of some –ism, -ology, or –ocracy.
One reason we keep warring is because of another lesson no generation has ever learned about its leaders: how to tell The Good Guys from The Bad Guys.
That is just as dumb as it sounds. But it keeps happening. Every century. And it happens because we never understand how badly we want to believe in our leaders: our presidents, our prime ministers, our priests, our rabbis — any of our leaders. We want them to be smart, to be fair, to be honest, and always to be right. We forget that our leaders are simply human beings, capable of making mistakes and being wrong. And because we want so badly to believe in what they tell us, we seemingly do anything they ask.
Too often, our leaders convince us our -ism is the only true and righteous one, rendering us easily manipulated … and exploited. We become wary of others. Cautious. Suspicious. Too often, our judgment of “those others” leads to mistrust and outright hatred, making it easy for our leaders to galvanize us in a common cause. Ergo, wars.
Millions of Americans protested our country’s involvement in Viet Nam because we didn’t understand who hated us. Conversely, if President Carter had declared war after Iranian zealots kidnapped 52 Americans, we would have responded with fervent jingoism.
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One thing the human race has learned — but sadly, ignored — is that history is written by the winners. So how can we ever be sure the Good Guys won and the Bad Guys lost?
Many centuries ago, a man named Alexander led an army that conquered other countries. Some history books still refer to him as Alexander The Great. It is unlikely he was called “great” by the thousands of widows and orphans his marauding armies left in their wake.
If Germany had won World War II, the madman Adolph Hitler – arguably the most evil human being who ever lived – would be portrayed in today’s history books as a dynamic, righteous leader.
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Some 10,000 years ago, the human race discovered agriculture, creating a a gigantic sea change in our evolution. We no longer had to hunt for food. We could grow our own. We settled down. We grew into little communities. We created villages. And towns. And cities.
And boundaries.
We have been at war ever since.
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Personally, I have one strong belief: nothing is as sacred or as beautiful as a human life. Any human life.
I doubt many leaders would agree with that. At some point in the history of our civilization, our leaders determined that our beliefs were more important than our lives. That has never changed.
About seven thousand years ago, there were almost 27 million of us listening to a few leaders, telling us to go kill each other in the name of some -isms.
About five hundred years ago, there were now 450 million of us, still listening to a few leaders, still telling us to go kill each other in the name of some new
-isms.
Today, there are almost seven billion of us, still listening to a few leaders, still telling us to go kill each other, still in the name of some –isms.
When does it stop? When do we stop killing each other?
Today, more than 60 years after the unspeakable atrocity known as The Holocaust … after a weary world swore, “Never again” … after a United Nations was created to bring peace to the whole planet … genocides continue to flourish.
Ethnic cleansing occurs every decade or so. As I write this, the slaughter of innocent people continues in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, all in the name of some –isms.
Leaders of these slaughters, of course, invoke hatred as a motivator. And why not? It always works.
Some have tried to unite people by other means.
For a while, Mahatma Gandhi brought people together with love instead of hatred. So did Martin Luther King. So have a precious few others.
Unfortunately, too many leaders have discovered that hatred works better.
And finally, here is a lesson we all should have learned in kindergarten: there is only one planet that supports life. This is where we all have to live. We should be taking care of this planet. And I must admit, your generation is doing a much better job of it than mine did. Or any generation, for that matter.
I hope you can start to turn other things around also.
Most of all, I hope you can start … to stop … the killing.
It will take many, many future generations to overcome cycles of hatreds generating hatreds; of killings spawning revenge; of broken alliances, shattered truces and unconscionable genocides.
The end of these mass murders has to start sometime. I hope it starts with you.
I hope you can make the world a tiny bit better. And a little bit cleaner. And much safer.
I hope when you are my age, you never have to write a letter of apology to all the grandchildren in the world.
Sincerely,
Wendell Abern
Wendell Abern can be reached at dendyabern@gmail.com.
September, 2015 – Vision of Change
Vision of Change
By Kelly McNulty
I have a vision of change
But, I do not walk alone
Nor is the premise unknown
Words of a harmonized world
Have so often been spoke
So easy to evoke
Yet, the flame fizzles to provoke
Shadowed has been the road to change
Of so many echoes and so much pain
The message of revolutions through peace
Voiced in every message
Edged in every breath
To fight against the powerful elite
To take a stand against inequality
To weave a blanket of kindness
To harmonize a world that seeks to divide
To heal the wounds of man’s injustice
Strength within their threads
Persistence in their stand
Gandhi envisioned a unified India
Lennon imagined a world without War
Dr. King had a dream of a world without Color
And, all stood strong for something more
A mirrored reflection of a mission
A passion to seek compassion
A voice to sing in harmony
A flame to burn in unity
A vision of capability
To plant the seeds of change
And grow inside the rain
And not add to the soiled pain
Yes, I have a vision
As so many have had before
And, I too yearn for something more
A world without any war
A revolutionary change
Where all species live without pain
And, no one acts for mere economic nor empowered gain
An end to all exploitation
A harmonized web of connected life
Living with mother Gaia
Embedded in the clouds of desire
May our echoes provoke like thunder
May our souls ignite a spark of unbridled passion
And may peace encrust our core of sanctity
To put into action…
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Kelly McNulty is a Visionary reflective poet seeking to inspire change while exploring the dimensions of poetry. Kelly resides in South Florida, working on self-publishing her first poetry book focusing on poems about activism, environmental issues, and animal rights.