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GFWC Woman's Club members are very vocal about many things they are passionate about, so why not art? There are many studies - pro and con - regarding the arts in connection with education. However, we dare to ask the question, 'How can being taught and/or encouraged to express yourself through art - be it music, drama, making or painting something - be a bad thing?"

Many people today have limited vision when they hear the word "art." They immediately think canvas and paint, but there is so much more to art than that! In generations past, the art of quilt-making was not so much about visual appeal as it was the necessity and resourcefulness to stay warm. Does the word "art" only bring thoughts of other things that our ancestors may have deemed luxuries - theater, concerts, intricately-designed jewelry?

The General Federation of Women's Clubs' Arts Community Service Program encourages members to promote and support arts activities in their clubs, schools, and communities. It is designed to inspire clubwomen and ignite within them a desire to make their world a more beautiful place. As Edgar Degas once said, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

The goal is to create programs and projects that include music, literature, dance, drama, theatre, and other arts-related areas, both traditional and innovative, that cause the world around us to see and feel what they might have only once imagined.

Every year the women of the clubs promote the arts by submitting their own creations in whatever medium that speaks to them.Through this activity they encourage expression, inspiration, and communication. Art helps the artist express ideas, inspire them and those around them that view it, and communicate the thoughts and feelings the artist had while creating the piece.

Creativity was in the air at the GFWC Woman's Club of Lake Wales on Jan. 9. Eighteen entries were submitted for the Annual Arts Exhibit and Competition, and many blue ribbons were received. The talented ladies of the Club had a wonderful time seeing what wonders each of them had created and were able to openly discuss the reasons for the different mediums and expressions represented.

The guest speaker for the day was Patt Fosnaught of Arts4All Florida, a program designed to provide, support and champion arts education and cultural experiences for and by people with disabilities. Patt presented a wonderful overview of the program, eliciting several ideas to promote the Arts in our local Community.

Entertaining during lunch was a very talented young lady in her own right, Hannah Eckstein, who represented "Sandy's Music Girl Scholarship" which is a project of the Arts Council created by Steve Morrison to remember his late wife, Sandy Greer Morrison, who lost her battle with cancer in March 2014. The Scholarship Fund provides lessons, instruments, mentors, attendance at music camps, or whatever the girls need to continue their growth in music. Also present was Alison Martin from the "Circle of Friends Ministry" in Lake Wales that provides recreational activities, programs and services for people with physical and developmental disabilities.