Butler native honored in Calif.
The Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, Calif., has honored Butler native John McGuirk for his contributions as a volunteer and for his work at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
“I've done some fundraising for them (CSMA), and I've written some grants through my work at the Hewett Foundation.” McGuirk said.
McGuirk has been the program director of performing arts at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation since 2009. He also is an adjunct professor at the Center for Management and Creative Studies at Claremont Graduate University. He said he has always had a love for the arts.
He also has served as the development director at CSMA for six years.
McGuirk was honored at the annual “CSMA's got Talent” gala event last month.
“John has been an incredible advocate and supporter of the arts and has made a lasting impact in our community, “said Mike Couch, chairman of the CSMA board of directors:
“For me, I grew up in a family where the arts were integral,” McGuirk said. “To have arts and culture was the fertile ground on which I was educated.”
In high school, McGuirk said he was involved in marching band and musicals, and that passion for music and the arts stayed with him through college and all the way to California.
McGuirk was born in Butler, graduating from Butler High School in 1983. He received his bachelor's degree at Grove City College and went on to get a master's degree in public management, with a concentration in arts management, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
“The arts education in Butler is a very rare thing,” McGuirk said.
He said in California, where he lives now, there are many children who grow up without access to an arts education.
“I want to help with making the arts available to everyone,” McGuirk said.
He believes an education in arts and music can add a great deal to a child's life, and it's not professionally impractical as some may believe.
McGuirk said arts and music can provide creative and intellectual skills that later can be put to use in professional contexts, as well as personal or social settings.
“The creative tool kit can be used in any career path they take,” he said. “It is also a tool of self-expression,” he added, which is important for both children and adults to have.
The CSMA, founded in 1968, is one of the 10 biggest arts education institutions in California, McGuirk said.
Its mission, according to its website, is to inspire “excellence through art and music education for people of all ages and abilities.”
They CSMA has programs for students of all ages, even as young as 18 months. It also teaches students with special needs and disabilities.
