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ARTA’s May 12, 2021, meeting featured entertainer Daylin James of Roblin, Manitoba, Canada, an international performing artist who came to us through the magic of Zoom!  Daylin performed “Bits of Broadway,” a show he crafted featuring well-known songs from popular Broadway musicals, most of them featuring some small costume change to help him be in character.  He opened the show with the upbeat “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from “Oklahoma,” continuing with 13 others from musicals such as “Guys and Dolls,” ”Man of La Mancha,” “Hello Dolly,” [singing in voice imitation of both Louis Armstrong and Carol Channing], “Les Miserables,” and others, including the four pictured below.

Taking a step away from his basement studio stage, Daylin returned as old Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof,” singing “If I Were a Rich Man.”  During the question/answer period afterward, he explained that this was among his hardest songs to sing because of the variation in tonal quality for an old man, plus the beard sometimes slips down or hairs get in his mouth!

Doffing the beard, Daylin returned looking like “himself” as he did the lively “Honeybun” from “South Pacific.”  He had earlier done another “South Pacific” tune, “This Nearly Was Mine.”

The most impressive staging was with the title song from “Phantom of the Opera,” in which Daylin appeared in full costume and mask, with stage effects of fog as well as candles and a picture of “Christine,” in lieu of the real heroine. 

Daylin ended the program with two upbeat numbers from “Grease” — “Sandy” and “Greased Lightning,” the latter pictured here.  Then his “walk-off” song was another from the same show, “We Go Together.”  However, he returned for questions and answers, giving all a chance to know him better.

Next up below Chris Urquiaga December of 2020.

Chris Urquiaga, Singer-songwriter, composer, pianist, producer and Strathmore Artist-in-Residence, 2016-17, returned on December 9 to once again bring us holiday cheer. Popularly known as JChris, Chris performed an excellent program filled with seasonal selections and many of his delightful compositions. During the program he seemed to be in the same room with each of us, definitely one of the joys of meeting via Zoom! Before and after the program, we chatted with Chris and each other, though Chris was in New York City and we were scattered throughout Virginia and the U.S.  After the program, Chris responded to our queries about his music and eloquently shared his views on the important role of the arts in our lives. It was a wonderful day!
For more music and information, visit Chris’s excellent website at jchrisofficial.com

Thanks to Judy Jankowski for sharing her photos.

Last September

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On March 11, 2020, ARTA unknowingly met for the last time, in person. Our program, introduced by the Honorable Karen Darner and presented by the Honorable Mary Margaret Whipple, was fascinating. Mary Margaret described the long process between the generating of the idea for the Virginia Women’s Monument and its unveiling in October 2019. It is a process still ongoing since not all of the statues have been completed. The monument named Voices from the Garden is a metaphor for the many unrecognized voices that have been responsible for shaping our culture, country and state for over 400 years and is intended to be a thought-provoking and interactive experience that complements the more traditional heroic monuments on Capitol Square. It is the first monument of its kind in the nation to recognize the full range of women’s achievements. It takes the form of an oval-shaped garden that encompasses twelve bronze statues of significant women from the state, surrounded by a glass pane etched with names of other Virginia women. The 12 statues are predetermined, but the glass wall of other notable Virginia women can be added to over time.  For more information visit: http://womensmonumentcom.virginia.gov.

Dr. Juanita Patience Moss joined us on February 12, 2020. Dr. Moss is a fellow retired educator, her family’s griot, a researcher and author of
nine books detailing her research on Black Civil War soldiers whose service in white regiments had not been documented. Her focus on that day
was the family-related research shared in her latest book Deeply Rooted in North Carolina. It tells the story of two runaway slave brothers
forever separated after joining the Union Army. Through the years, descendants of Pvt. Thomas Patience, Joseph Lawrence’s great-great
grandfather and Pvt. Crowder Patience, Juanita’s great grandfather knew nothing of the other. Thanks to 23andMe DNA tests that supplied
names of relatives, a 154-year-old mystery was solved. Members found her presentation interesting and discussion was rich with questions and
the sharing of family histories. Dr. Moss’s books are available on her website, http://www.journeyfromthepast.com.

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On November 13,2019, Nadine James, a retired Fairfax County reading specialist, visited with us to share her experiences as part of the Memoir Roundtable, the producers of the book Memoir Your Way. Throughout her remarks, Nadine reminded each of us that we have stories to tell and gave us ideas for doing so. Many members bought a copy of the book that includes sections on how to: interview to secure family stories; create a scrapbook with pictures; tell stories with recipe collections; develop a graphic novel; or use fabric to tell quilt stories. This useful and informative book is available on Amazon and at bookstores.

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ARTA held its 46th anniversary end-of-the- year luncheon on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at the Army Navy Country Club in Fairfax. The guest speaker was Meg Tuccillo, retired Arlington Public Schools (APS) Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services. Her The Times, They are A-Changin’  presentation focused on the present planning challenges of APS, a school system that went from an enrollment of 26,000 in 1964 to 15,000 in 1981, with accompanying school closures, to more than 28,000 students this school year, 2017-18.  Arlington’s school-age population is projected to swell to 32,000 by 2027.  Meg shared how APS is involving the community in its planning processes and described the plans in place and in the works to accommodate the projected growth.