OAKHURST – Organizers behind one of the area’s most visible and valuable nonprofits invite you to attend Vision Academy’s Grand Night for the Arts, an evening of entertainment and fine art held this year on Saturday, Feb. 9 at the Golden Chain Theater.
A “taste of the foothills” will be available in the form of delectable finger foods, appetizers and sample stations from a plate-full of area restaurants, including El Cid Mexican Cuisine, Sweetwater Steakhouse and Todd’s Cookhouse BBQ, along with others still in negotiation.Vision Academy Board member Sheila Adams says Grand Night for the Arts is the major fundraising event for the scholarships and arts awards for which the organization is known.
“It’s rumored that we’ve got as many as 15 kids applying for scholarships this year, from the three schools: Yosemite High School, Glacier High School Charter and Minarets High School,” says Adams. “In the last 18 years Vision has been able to award over $125,000 to about 25 students. We raise money through concerts, classes conducted by local artists and our Grand Night for the Arts.”
Guests can anticipate a no-host bar, silent auction, an artsy live auction, featuring an original painting by artist Joan Brumley, and also the group’s infamous balloon sale.
“We sell balloons for $10 each and attached to the string of the balloon is an envelope with a gift certificate from one of our local vendors or business people here in the mountain area,” says Adams. “So anyone who spends $10 on a balloon at Grand Night of the Arts is going to go home with at least $10 worth of something great.”
Throughout the evening, scholarship applicants will demonstrate their talents and introduce themselves, laying out their plans for college. Applicants must have plans to study some form of the arts as either their major or minor in college.
“Our main purpose is to raise funds to award scholarships to high school graduates who are going to be pursuing higher education in the arts,” Adams explains, “which would be writing, dance, music, culinary, cosmetic and the visual arts.”
Vision Academy of the Arts has been a welcome mainstay in the mountains for 20 years, and students at three high schools now benefit from the Vision Academy scholarship program, according to the long-time arts advocate.
“We hope everybody will make plans to attend this event, because the more people who come and share, the more we can do.”
Tickets are $20 and the program starts at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Chain Theatre is located at 42130 Highway 41, Oakhurst.
