A Unique Partnership: Local Church and CMS School Incorporate Upcoming Performance of Black Violin as a Way to Break Down Barriers and Expand Opportunities
Feb 28, 2019 / Blog
When Black Violin returns to Belk Theater on March 5th with its world-renowned fusion of classical and hip-hop music, hundreds of local students will get a chance to hear them play at a special daytime performance for schools. Among them will be a group of fifty scholars from Ranson IB Middle School, who will be attending the show as part of a unique partnership with St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
The Huntersville-based congregation has been Ranson IB’s faith partner for nearly 17 years, but the substance of their relationship has evolved substantially in recent years. St. Mark’s initially got involved with the Title I middle school, when a school counselor reached out to some parishioners, requesting help serving the basic needs of some students and their families. The church began collecting school supplies, food and other necessities as well as donating gifts for families in need during the holiday season. Over the years, St. Mark’s has worked with school leadership to build a real relationship between the two institutions, and identify ways to better support the faculty, scholars and their families.
Church members now help proctor tests and participate in career days at the school. They help organize social activities to enjoy with students and their families, and plan teacher appreciation meals and outings. Based on the school community’s feedback, in recent years, the church has also replaced its traditional “angel tree” model of holiday gift-giving with efforts to raise scholarship dollars to help students attend YMCA summer camp experiences.
"I havereally enjoyed building my personal relationship with St. Marks,” says Ranson IB Principal Neodria Brown, who is in her first year at the school. “They go above and beyond with their support…. You name it. If they can do it, they try their best to get things for Ranson.”
And that support is felt both ways. In 2017, the church, whose membership is majority white and middle class, embarked on a new journey, exploring racial reconciliation, justice and healing with the school, which serves primarily students of color.
USING THE ARTS AS A LEVER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
They invited teachers, parents and others in the Charlotte community to participate in a series of conversations on Race in America, which they co-hosted at Ranson IB. Using grant money, they brought in experts and facilitators to jointly learn more about a variety of issues, including the legacy of redlining in our community, the history of desegregation and resegregation of Charlotte schools, the challenges of affordable housing and more.
This was new territory for the church, according to Reverend Sarah Hollar, who has served the parish for the past 13 years. She says the experience was a good and surprising one that has pushed them to grow in new ways.
In the process of these reconciliation conversations, they brought in NC-based Mike Wiley Productions for a school day and evening performance. The theater company specializes in examining America’s racial history with the goal of inspiring audiences to take lessons from the past and apply them to the present.
"What we became really aware of,” says Hollar, “Of course it’s obvious, but if you don’t want to pay attention you don’t notice—we have students surrounded by arts and cultural opportunities and they don’t have access to it.”
Having gained awareness, some congregation members wanted to take the next step toward promoting change through advocacy. “That put the idea in our heads that they [some students] live right here and they’ve never been to Blumenthal. They’ve never been to the Levine Museum of the New South.”
In 2018, the church helped bring scholars to see the Levine Museum’s K(NO)W JUSTICE K(NO)W PEACE exhibit, which focuses on various community perspectives on police- involved shootings in Charlotte and throughout the nation. This year, the church approached the school about the possibility of underwriting tickets for a group of students to see Black Violin at Belk Theater. The performance seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore, as classically-trained musicians Wil B.(viola) and Kev Marcus (violin), who lead the group, intentionally create music aimed at overcoming stereotypes and finding a musical common ground between people of different races, cultures, ages and socio-economic backgrounds.
"It's going to showcase phenomenal talent by these people of color,” says Hollar. “In addition to the talent that they display, they also have conversations about what’s possible, about pursuing dreams and our young people need to hear that. They need to hear that over and over that the world has possibilities."
"In that space, in that beautifully, intentional space of the theater, a community has come together and says ‘this has real value. There is something taking place here that is important and has value. This is essential to the human experience… We can explore that. We can offer it. We can present it. We can bring our best efforts to it and you will see what’s possible in the human experience with dedication, and skills and imagination.’”
TAKING SMALL STEPS TOWARD A BETTER FUTURE
Hollar says sometimes people feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start when confronted by big systemic issues. But she believes that taking small steps forward is better than taking no action at all. Helping scholars at the school where they have built a long term relationship seemed to be the logical place to begin their advocacy efforts.
"Blumenthal has this fabulous educational branch and they’ve made that easy for us,” says Hollar. Blumenthal is also subsidizing transportation costs for Ranson IB and other schools requesting assistance, who are coming to see the show. In addition, several local schools are benefiting from the generosity of Blumenthal donors to the Arts For All fund, which will help underwrite the cost of tickets for hundreds of students. Additional schools are receiving aid from the Arts and Science Council’s School Funding Opportunities grant to pay for their tickets to Black Violin.
Principal Brown says this experience will be an important one for her scholars, as the Arts play an essential role in the IB middle years program, which focuses on the development of the whole child. “The Arts are just as important as the academics,” she says. Ranson IB offers chorus, theater and dance classes but currently has no band program. For students who are already active in the school’s performing arts program, seeing Black Violin will be a culminating experience, and for those who are not, this will give them a taste of what is possible through the Arts.
She considers the congregation to be part of the Ranson IB family. “We love them, we really do,” says Brown. “St. Mark’s is amazing. And because of what they represent and their faith—I’m not saying that everyone shares their faith—but it’s great to see that personified. Their messages that they’re preaching on Sundays really do come into play in their work with us.”
Hollar agrees that as a faith partner they are called to their work through their beliefs: “The narrative says over and over you take care of each other. You do what you can to take care of your brothers and sisters.”
But she urges other organizations and businesses to make it a priority too, particularly in light of research in recent years that placed Charlotte 50th out of the 50 largest metro areas for upward mobility.
"When you live in a good community, you want your citizens to be able to have access to what the community offers,” says Hollar. “That just lifts everybody… I think it’s time for us to call on one another. We can be different. We can take a broader perspective on what it takes to make a good community and commit to that.”
