As many of you know, December is the time I like to reflect upon all the year’s activities and the many blessings that have come. 2017 has been a year of great blessing! Let me share some of these blessings with you.
Just a little over one year ago, I set out on a new adventure in life and opened the Community School of the Arts. This has been the most wonderful experience and has created so many new and exciting opportunities! In the spring of 2017, our Youth Theatre Company and our Chamber Strings both won awards through the National Youth Arts organization for their spring concert and their production of Guys and Dolls. In addition, CSA has reconnected with the area schools to provide after-school programs and day performances for young people to attend and has already seen more than 1,000 students through our outreach activities.
Our fall enrollment is continuing to expand as we have grown to reaching 350 students weekly for the arts. We have a terrific group of teachers who love to work with children and youth. Thanks to our home at St. Bartholomew, we are able to further develop programs and classes and offer performances onsite.
We are also connecting to the community in so many ways through sponsors, donors and partnerships with community organizations. We continue to develop family-friendly programming and events that meet a real need in this community. A big thank you to all of you who have encouraged us and support us in these endeavors. What a blessing you are!
The big event here at CSA this year was the gift of 11 acres of land on Riverfront Drive given to us by the Robbie Westphal family for the purpose of building a 21st century arts facility that will provide educational and artistic opportunities for literally thousands of children and youth through the years. Words cannot describe how grateful we are for this gift! As many of you know, my entire career has been devoted to arts education, and it has been rewarding through the years to see young people grow into successful adults through their studies in the arts. Thanks to the gift of this land, we will have the opportunity to build a facility with programs that will greatly impact the next generation of leaders. And we have an amazing board that has the passion and vision for getting this project done! What a blessing!
I am forever thankful for my wonderful husband, Phillip. I consider him to be my greatest treasure on this earth. As I have mentioned before, Phillip was literally dropped on my doorstep one day, and I knew immediately he was the man for me. The Lord gave me a great blessing when he brought Phillip. We have so much fun together and are truly a team in life as our abilities complement each other.
Phillip retired in June, so we are blessed now with getting to work on projects together, and there are many!
Phillip and I love Fort Smith. He grew up here, and since I have now lived here nearly 28 years, this is where I call home. Lord willing, we believe this is where we are to live out the rest of our days. We are invested in Fort Smith and want to continue being part of this fine community and the state of Arkansas. Most importantly, as we work with young people, we want to be part of raising up the next generation of leaders to have strong moral and ethical character.
It is a blessing to be involved in the arts. I have always been thankful to have the ability to play the piano and am extremely thankful that I can still play. And thanks to my physical therapist, Angela, my shoulder continues to improve, allowing me to play the piano more. Beyond just playing the piano, I believe the arts transcend many of the issues that societies currently face and bring people together.
As I close, I must thank the Lord for salvation in his son, Jesus Christ, without which life would have little meaning. As we reflect on Christmas, we think about Christ’s birth. But it doesn’t stop there. Jesus’ true purpose in coming was to die on the cross to save each of us from our sin. His resurrection gives us hope that we will one day live with him in eternity. We must each come to a time when we realize that we are separated from God by our sin, and that we need Jesus as our savior. This is the greatest decision that you will ever make in this life, and no one can make it for you.
I’m so thankful that my parents raised me in a Godly Christian home and helped bring me to this point where I made the decision to trust Christ personally. I hope that as you begin a new year, many of you will make this decision. Your life will take on new meaning that you have never known before.
I hope all of you have many things to be thankful for this season. Have a happy new year, and I look forward to seeing you at the concert hall in 2018!
Dr. Rosilee Russell is the founder/executive director of Community School of the Arts. Contact her at Rosilee.Russell@csafortsmith.org, call 434-2880 or visit www.csafortsmith.org.