The fall semester at VIVA! runs from September 13 through December 4. Register now for instruction for all ages in strings, piano, voice and drama!

VIVA! provides high quality instruction which seeks to build strong technical skills as well as develop each student's individual and unique expression of his/herself. We seek to broaden each student's exposure to the many facets of the arts through master classes, workshops and performances by professional teachers and musicians.

Visit www.vivaschool.org for more information!

Claudia will be at The Next Picture Show on Friday, August 13th, 7pm in concert.
Limited Seating--$20 a ticket.

Michigan native Claudia Schmidt has covered a lot of musical ground since beginning with a stirring rendition of "Tammy" at age four around a neighborhood bonfire.

Over 30 years as a touring professional have found Claudia Schmidt traversing North America as well as Europe in venues ranging from intimate clubs to 4,000 seat theatres, and festival stages in front of 25,000 rapt listeners. She is familiar with the mediums of radio and TV, including regular stints on Public Radio International's "A Prairie Home Companion" in its early incarnation, and starring in an hour-long documentary called "I Sing Because I Can't Fly," produced by KTCA TV in St. Paul. She participated in the delightful Les Blank movie "Gap-Toothed Women," contributing a song as well as an interview.

She has recorded fourteen albums of mostly original songs, exploring folk, blues, and jazz idioms featuring her acclaimed12 string guitar and mountain dulcimer playing. Recently, she collaborated with the New Reformation Jazz Band on a Dixieland gospel recording and a tribute to Gershwin and Ellington in celebration of their hundredth birthdays. Claudia's 2003 release on Redhouse Records -- Wings of Wonder-- features many new songs with instrumental support by Dean Magraw and Peter Ostroushko. I Thought About You, is her second effort leading her own swinging sextet - Claudia Schmidt & The JumpBoys. In the fall of 2003 Claudia released an all spoken word CD featuring some of the many pieces she’s made famous in her performances over the past thirty years. The CD, ROADS, includes 17 poems and essays from her rich performance repertoire. In the Summer of 2006 Claudia released her first self-produced folk/acoustic CD Spinning. This recording is a coming home of sorts for Claudia with a studio full of Michigan's finest musicians. Most recently, in the fall of 2006, Claudia teamed up again with Dean Magraw this time for a live jazz recording at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. This great example of Claudia at work on stage features classic jazz pieces along with several of her own jazz-inspired works.

The Next Picture Show presented a watercolor workshop for a group visiting from Shepherds Ministries in Wisconsin.The group enjoyed the days instruction by the fine arts teacher Debbie Thompson.

It’s the little gallery that could. The Next Picture Show, a nonprofit fine arts gallery in the heart of downtown Dixon that nearly closed its doors because of a lack of funds, will receive an Illinois Alliance for Arts Education public and community service award March 18 in Springfield.

Bonnie Kime, executive director of the gallery, learned of the honor in a letter from the IAAE, inviting her to the ceremony at the governor’s mansion. “I was greatly surprised,” said Kime, 61, of Dixon. “It was a great day.”

TNPS was chosen because of its numerous local arts programs. In addition to exhibits, art shows, classes and workshops, the gallery hosts recitals, receptions, concerts, banquets and more. Looking at Kime’s long list of gallery offerings, IAAE Executive Director Barbara Heimerdinger thought, “My goodness, she’s done so much.” “To make a fine arts gallery successful in Small Town USA is almost impossible,” said Debbie Thompson, Reagan Middle School art teacher who nominated The Next Picture Show. “To create one that is thriving is unheard of.”

From its home in a renovated 1854 building at 113 W. First St., the gallery partners with Episcopal Church of St. Luke and Philander Hall to offer VIVA! Performing Arts School, which offers music and drama courses.
“Our mission is to educate all facets of the arts,” Kime said. It’s a mission that nearly came to an end last year. In August, Kime said the gallery might have to close if more operating money wasn’t found. Businesses and community members rallied to buy memberships and provide donations to keep the gallery afloat.

Fine arts always have played a role in Kime’s life. The arts help a person live a whole, well-rounded life, and are especially important for young children, she said. “It takes maybe one person or one little glimmer to change a child’s life,” Kime said. “We all need that opportunity.”

About the alliance
The Illinois Alliance for Arts Education is a nonprofit organization of arts educators in dance, drama, music and visual art, whose mission is to ensure high quality arts education for all Illinois students in grades K-12.
Learn more at www.illinoisalliance4artsed.org online.