Harbourview Montessori Art Gala, December 15, celebrates co-operation

Charles Dickens, in his classic tale A Christmas Carol, has Scrooge’s nephew say that this is the one time of the year “…when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely”, making this is a time of sharing, hope, peace, and co-operation.

The Harbourview Montessori School brings those virtues to their latest funding raising effort, A Celebration of Co-operation: Art Gala, at the Membertou Trade Convention Centre on Thursday, December 15, 6 pm.

The event is the first art gala for Harbourview, located on the Murphy Road in Westmount, and, while local artists have donated works, the spotlight is on artworks created by the school’s students.

Student Braedon MacLean explains, “We’re doing it raise funds to buy educational materials for the classroom and for the community so other people can see about what we do in the classroom.

Malik Rahey, another Harbourview student, explains that 2012 is the International Year of the Co-operative, and the Art Gala will “help show how co-operatives send money back into the community that they get in the community.”

“Co-operatives also help give food to other people,” Fatima Shrafat explains, and her fellow student, Holly Doucette adds, “Everybody’s an owner in a co-op; we learn about co-ops all the time.”

Maggie Nemeth says the gala will feature artwork by the students based on the idea of co-operation and one of her contributions is of two people holding up a peace sign.

Fatima’s features people holding hands to show they are a family and they’re co-operating. Holly has contributed one painting of a silvery tree growing out of the word “peace” and a falcon because there is co-operation in nature and she “likes falcons”. Bailey Karrel has painted a landscape with a peaceful waterfall coursing through it.

Many of the students, like Holly and Fatima, draw and sketch outside of the classroom, or, like Jacob Vere, take photograph. They are all excited to have the public to see their art on display for the first time.

The Art Gala, hosted in partnership by the students of Harbourview Montessori School and the Co-operatives and Credit Unions of Nova Scotia, will have a silent auction of the children’s artwork along with that of contributing local artists (including Doray, Marie Moore, and Bev Niven), along with refreshments and musical entertainment.

Tickets are $20, and are available at: Harbourview Montessori School, Murphy Road, Westmount; East Side Mario’s, Mayflower Mall, Grand Lake Road; Home Hardware, Prince Street, Sydney; and Wentworth Perk, George Street, Sydney.