Henderson Castle will be host to an event titled, “Art and Music: A Fundraiser for Children” on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.
The event will feature artwork from Ugandan children and an exhibit titled, “Legos as Art,” which will showcase structures built by children out of the popular building blocks. The event will also feature music from the Kalamazoo Recorder Players.
Henderson Castle has donated the space for the event, and all of the proceeds raised on Friday night will go to Juna Amagara Ministries, which supports children orphaned by AIDS in Uganda. This is the fourth year Henderson Castle has sponsored the Ugandan ministry.
“Part of Friday’s event is to make a difference in the community, locally and internationally,” said Peter Livingstone-McNeelis, proprietor and executive director of Henderson Castle.
Featured in the event will be artwork created by Ugandan children, which ranges from jewelry to baskets to placemats. Photographs of the Ugandan children will also be available for purchase, to raise additional funds for the ministry.
Local musical group, Kalamazoo Recorder Players, will be providing live music in the ballroom during the event. Led by music director Karen Woodworth, the group has been performing in Kalamazoo for over thirty years.
“We performed at Henderson Castle as part of the December Art Hop in 2008, and we are happy to be returning as part of the Fundraiser for Children this December,” Wordworth said.
Livingstone-McNeelis sees the castle’s ballroom as a fantastic performing area for the group.
“The ballroom, acoustically, it’s phenomenal,” Livingstone-McNeelis said. “It’s a great environment to listen to some music.”
The Kalamazoo Recorder Players, which consists of 15 recorderists on soprano, alto, tenor, and bass instruments, will be playing Christmas and Hanukkah music, as well as the “Overture” from “Oscar and the Cool Koalas,” by Matthias Maute, director of the Manhattan Recorder Orchestra.
The “Overture”, a minimalist piece, was selected as a compliment to the “Legos as Art” exhibit, which will also be taking place as part of the “Art and Music” event.
“Lego is art and is very creative and is another way of expressing artistic talent,” Livingstone-McNeelis said.
The exhibit will feature Lego art created by children ranging from the ages of 10 to 12.
A jewelry sale will also take place as part of the event. Paths of Silver, an organization that purchases Mexican jewelry, sells it in the US, and donates the proceeds to non-profits, will be offering items for sale. The proceeds will go to local non-profit Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes.
Livingstone-McNeelis said that the event will be a great opportunity for students to experience Kalamazoo outside of the university.
“[Students] need to get out, and if they can, make a difference in the community and connect with people out in the community,” Livingstone-McNeelis said. “It’s good for them as a student, and enriches them, but it also can make a difference in the lives of, in this case, children in Uganda, or Loaves and Fishes, [and] neighbors in the Kalamazoo area who may need some help throughout the year.”
