Reflection: Beauty appreciated and goals achieved

 I arrived in Honduras nine months ago to teach art and music to middle school students at The Day-Star School. I was given this amazing opportunity to work with students of Juticalpa in these subjects, and before I came, I didn't realize how much I was going to do to support the arts and the culture here. I ended up working with The Society of Culture as well, and we put together a successful art show at La Casa de la Cultura on April 21, 2012.
There were two themes for this art show. One theme was "I Love Honduras" and the other theme was "The Divinity of Art and Music". Many students paid homage to their country. Paintings of mountains, beaches, sunsets, buildings, and churches lined up the left. After walking, there were sculptures of Mayan ruins in the center of the hall. Other works of art were created with repousee, a metal working technique that they had learned with another art teacher, and a pair of students made their works of art (a homage to coffee) on a traditional Honduran dress.

I also arranged to have students participate and play music at this event, hence the title, "The Divinity of Art and Music".

There were two sets of music, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon. 

Songs like "Someone like you" and "1000 Miles" were performed with a keyboardist who plays everything by ear. The instrumentalists consisted of a guitarist who played Mozart, and me, who plays the violin. I played Manuel de Falla, Kreisler, and Eleanor Rigby. 

In the afternoon, I played Bach and Mozart and performed with another guitarist, an improvisation that he came up with. Other students sang from "Grease" the musical that they are working on with another teacher. This other teacher has an incredible singing voice, and really added to the musical ambiance in the art show/recital event.

Both sets drew a large crowd of people, especially the one in the later afternoon.  This event was a fundraiser for The Society of Culture, and we raised over $400 for this community.

I'm hoping that this tradition continues over the next few years. I also hope for the best for my students, coworkers, and the rest of the society. There is a lot of talent, and the youth can preserve it and strengthen their culture and community.