The "Manhattan Optimist Club Bulletin" #50: 9-13-23

VOLUME 2023          September 13, 2023         NUMBER 50

President Thad Hall welcomed the membership, followed by the Flag Salute.

Program Introduction:

Mike Fincham introduced Bob and Tracey Debruyn.  Bob is an author and founder of the Master Teacher and Tracey is also an author and the CEO of Master Teacher.  Bob and Tracy are already well known to the Manhattan Community for their philanthropic work and their work through the Master Teacher.  They spoke about their project, the Museum of Art and Light.

Bob Debruyn began the presentation with a discussion of facts about the arts in children’s education.  Students who are in the visual or performing arts for four or more years outperform all other students academically.  When visual and performing arts are incorporated into any other academic subject, learning and test scores are increased.  Students with high arts participation and low socio-economic status have a four percent dropout rate, five times lower than their low socio-economic status peers.  Students who take four years of visual and performing arts classes score an average of over 150 points higher on the SAT test than students who take only one-half year of less of arts classes.  Two-thirds of public-school teachers say the arts are among subjects getting crowded out of the school day for students by a focus on math, science, and English.  Low-income students engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate from college as their peers with no arts education.  A recent study showed that arts education reduces the proportion of students getting disciplinary infractions.  The U.S. Department of Labor’s SCANS Report stated the arts are important for developing foundational work skills including the following: creative thinking, problem-solving, exercising individual responsibility, sociability, and self-esteem.  Research proves the arts utilize all the learning intelligences: kinesthetic learning, visual-spatial learning, rhythmic learning, interpersonal learning, cooperative learning, and intrapersonal learning.

Tracey Debruyn shared information about the museum, its construction, exhibits, and economic impact.

She asked us to imagine not just looking at a painting but imagine being inside that painting.  Then imagine being transported through all the various pieces of that artist so you could understand their motivation and their inspiration up front and personal.  Then imagine the best and most creative music that the artist evokes at that time.  The viewer will experience the sight, sound, motion, and emotion of the artists’ works.  The viewer will not only be looking at it as in a traditional museum, but the viewer will also be surrounded by it.  She then showed a narrated video of the experience at the Van Gogh exhibit at the Atelier des Lumières in Pais France. 

https://www.atelier-lumieres.com/fr

The museum the Museum of Art and Light’s concept is similar to the Atelier des Lumières’s in Paris France. 

The museum will have 55 projectors and a sophisticated sound system.  Three digital exhibits will be created each year by staff and last about 40 minutes each.  The new creations will encourage patrons to return to view another production.

The building will be at the northwest corner of Pierre Street and Fourth Street and viewable as one comes over the 177 Kaw River Bridge into Manhattan.  The architect’s rendering depicts this general view.  Exterior from the east.

https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/b75f2c3f-7e1d-4c7f-9d2d-0271638ef3d6/Exterior%20Facade%20MoAL%201.png/:/cr=t:2.47%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:95.05%25/rs=w:600,h:300,cg:true

Floor Plan

The light blue green is the new construction and the entry, which will be 40 feet high.  The blue is the entry to the art experience and the experience area; the large rectangular blue area is the old Sears building.  The green is for storage and offices and the yellow building is also owned by the Museum of Art and Light group and can be used for future expansion. The red is an historic building, not in the Museum of Art and Light project.  On the second and third floor of the new section of the building, original art will be displayed.

Several Architect’s renderings of the exterior and interior views of the building are available at the following link.

https://artlightmuseum.org/gallery

The museum already has many familiar artist’s works in their collection.  The following is a list of well known artists and the second list is more modern artists.

The Museum of Art and Light will be the first museum in the world to combine a permanent traditional collection with immersion digital collections, as well as house working artists.

The museum expects to attract 125,000 to 175,000 visitors annually and expects 40% of the visitors to come from more than 100 miles away.  In addition, they expect 20% of the visitors from outside of Kansas.  Within a 250 mile radius of Manhattan is a pool of 1.1 million art museum visitors.  “The types of travelers who visit museums spend 63% more than other leisure travelers.” (Laura Lott, President and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums).  For every $100 of economic activity generated by a museum, it creates $220 in other sectors of the economy (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

The museum initially plans to hire 22 employees directly and 15 indirectly.  Eventually, the museum expects to have 38 full-time employees and 10 part-time employees, in addition to many volunteers.  The construction will cost $30,800,000 and will generate 182 full-time equivalent direct and indirect jobs with a payroll during construction of $10,077,303 and generate $424,000 in income tax revenue.  The museum expects an annual payroll of $1,285,269 and $43,000 personal income tax collection.

The museum is scheduled to open in October of 2024.  Additional information is available at the following link: https://artlightmuseum.org/

Member Spotlight: No member Spotlight this week.

Guests:

President Hall welcomed Bob and Tracey Debruyn, today’s speakers, and guests Margaret Haden and Diana Haverstein.

Club Stuff/Announcements:

Bill Wisdom noted Chili Crawl is October 14th and signup sheets were on the table.  Tickets are available for sale.  Unsold tickets may be returned.  He also noted that Manhattan Optimist polo shirts were available to purchase online at:

http://companycasuals.com/ManhattanOptimistClub/start.jsp

T-shirts are also available for purchase and the signup sheets are on the tables.

Doug Jardine commented on the Life Saver’s Community Blood Drive will be held September 18th and 19th in conjunction with several other Manhattan service organizations.  All members of all service clubs in Manhattan are encouraged to attend and donate blood.

Doug is also riding his bike to raise funds for childhood cancer research; donations can be made at:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Donate/Rider/903440.

A marathon will be held on October 7th; if the club recruits enough members to help guide the runners, the Club will get $500. Two shifts are available, and a signup sheet is on the table.

The Membership Recruitment Contest is ongoing. A $100 gift card will be given to the member who brings in the most members, starting from April 19th.  Currently there is a four-way tie at one each for the prize with Klimik, Banaka, Scott, and Cox. The Optimist International recruitment contest continues through September 30th.

Next Week’s Program – Wednesday September 20th at 7:00 AM:

Sharon Steiner, Massage Therapist, Beyond Relaxation – Mobility, Light, and Massage.  Topic: “Leading to a More Flexible and Balanced Mind & Body.”

September Meeting Schedule:

Wednesday, September 27th at Noon: Outgoing Presidential Address and Installation of Officers.

Adjourned with the Optimist Creed

September Birthdays