Old School Square Creative Arts School

✨✨✨N E W C L A S S ✨✨✨

☕️CAFE SIP & SKETCH☕️⚠️Registration open now, class starts October 5⚠️(Tuesdays 9:30AM-11:30AM)

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🏃🏃‍♀️Hurry, only 8 students per term!**🙌
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Jen Fisher is bringing her sketching class out into the cafes of Delray Beach! Her SIP & SKETCH class will bounce around from cafe to cafe, giving students the option of sketching inside or outside! A great way to practice drawing skills while socializing with fellow artists and supporting our local businesses! Class time will consist of perspective drawing and sketching architectural and 3D objects.
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Congratulations to Sue Gurland, a student of Instructor Carla Golembe Painter/Illustrator at the Creative Arts School!🎉 Sue's artwork will be on display at Boca Raton Sugar Sand Park Community Center from September 10th through October 6th.

The opening reception of the "Wild Things" exhibition will take place on September 12th from 2- 5PM! Hope to see you there!

Thank you to our community members who had the chance to speak in support of Old School Square at the City Commission meeting this evening!

(apologies if your name is spelled incorrectly): Tom Rutherford, Elise Holland Johnson Nail / Putt'n Around Delray Beach, Linda Nail, Melissa Schechter, Scott Porten, Jim Chard, David Schmidt / Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, Rob Long / Vice Chair, Planning & Zoning Board of City of Delray Beach, Florida Government, Jason Tomin, Steve English, Debra Tendrich / Eat Better Live Better, Cathy Witt, Billy Himmelrich / Old School Bakery , Joe Gillie, Jayson Tomasheski, Chuck Halberg, Nancy Stewart-Franczak / Festival Management Group, Ali Kaufman / space of mind, Nancy Chanin, Melinda Webster / Zappitell Law Firm, Kenny Mikey / Page Turner Adventures, Caroline / Local Artist.

In addition, a big thank you to our volunteers, staff, board members, former employees and friends of OSS who stood with us today!

It's not over yet, but at least we were able to speak tonight! Thank you to the Commission for letting our community be heard. 🙏

On Tuesday, August 17, the City Commission will be holding a meeting, where there will be an opportunity for public comment. Stated as Item 5.b on the meeting agenda, this is where you and other OSS friends, partners and stakeholders will have the opportunity to express your personal position and feelings surrounding their vote to terminate our lease.

We are encouraging you- our supporters- to use this opportunity to speak up! You can support by speaking up!

The hearing is scheduled for 4:00PM, Tuesday August 17th, held at The Delray Beach City Hall. During the PUBLIC COMMENT section of the agenda, every constituent in attendance will have the opportunity to speak (typically, constituents are given three minutes, however the City may reduce this time based on number of speakers), and we want to take this opportunity to let our City Commissioners understand just how much support OSS receives from this community. On our blog, and in numerous recent posts on our page, you will find all of the details and supporting facts you may need to formulate your comments on this issue. Should you desire additional backup documentation, we are happy to provide that to you as well.

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🚨Public Participation Guidelines 🚨

🔹Masks are required at all times in City Hall facilities.

🔹City Commission meetings are business meetings and *the right to limit discussion* rests with the Commission. Generally, remarks by an individual will be limited to three minutes or less.

🔹Prior to the start of the Commission Meeting, individuals wishing to address the Commission should sign in on the sheet located on the dais. If you are not able to do so prior to the start of the meeting, you may still address the Commission. The primary purpose of the sign-in sheet is to assist staff with record keeping.

🔹ADDRESSING THE COMMISSION: At the appropriate time, please step up to the lectern and state your name and address for the record. All comments must be addressed to the Commission as a body and *not to individuals* ➡Any person making impertinent or slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous while addressing the Commission shall be barred by the presiding officer from speaking further⬅️, unless permission to continue or again address the Commission is granted by a majority vote of the Commission members.

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🚨You can also support by rallying with us outside of City Hall🚨

Old School Square friends, family, community advocates and stakeholders, will be demonstrating their support outside of City Hall from 2 PM - 4PM, rallying together to let the City know that they stand behind Old School Square Center for The Arts.

If you wish to support by attending this rally, Old School Square will have a tent setup in front of our Crest Theatre (northeast corner of Atlantic and Swinton) from 12pm- 4pm handing out rally signs and selling Old School Square t-shirts for $10 (100% of proceeds supporting efforts to save Old School Square). *reminder, City meeting begins at 4PM

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🚨If you are a local business owners… you can support with signage🚨

If you are a local business that loves and appreciates the business and traffic OSS brings to our downtown community, please consider posting a sign in front of your storefront! You can pick up a sign in front of our Crest Theatre (northeast corner of Atlantic and Swinton) between 12pm - 4pm.

Old School Square Center for The Arts, Inc. IS Old School Square. We are the very entity that saved the buildings from being completely demolished 30 years ago by creating an organization governed by a volunteer board of directors that has given not only their time but their money to raise funds, create programming, and offer cultural opportunities for our community to enjoy. We created Old School Square from a run-down complex of buildings on a city block surrounded by rusted chain link fences. It is the non-profit entity Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc. that provides all of the arts, culture, education, entertainment, and community programming that exists there today. Everything OSS visitors and community members experience on its campus is because of the non-profit organization.

Please consider helping us by taking the time to research this issue by “taking a seat at the table” for the Aug 17 City Commission!

Please click the image below to review our response to Mayor Shelly Petrolia's | City of Delray Beach, Florida Government accusations against Old School Square.

IN RESPONSE TO MAYOR PETROLIA'S EMAIL TO HER CONSTITUENTS SHE ACCUSED OLD SCHOOL SQUARE OF MISLEADING THE PUBLIC | Old School Square IN RESPONSE TO MAYOR PETROLIA'S EMAIL TO HER CONSTITUENTS SHE ACCUES OLD SCHOOL SQUARE OF MISLEADING THE PUBLIC OF DELRAY BEACH

Dear Mr. Moore / City of Delray Beach, Florida Government

While we would have preferred to have an actual conversation with you prior to reading your letter justifying why the city voted to evict Old School Square, please read below which serves to correct and clarify the facts.

Sincerely,
Old School Square Center for The Arts, Inc.

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"The City Commission is responsible for managing taxpayer funds, and ensuring that non-profit agencies, funded with taxpayer dollars, are effectively and efficiently managed. Over the years, Delray Beach taxpayers have provided Old School Square with over $9 million dollars in subsidies. In addition, the non-profit agency that manages Old School Square pays only $1 in rent each year. The City provides this lease as a way to promote the arts and to enrich the lives of its residents."

LET'S BREAK THIS DOWN ⬇️

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☑️The $9 million dollars in “subsidies” referenced above includes $2 million the city has spent on capital improvements to the city owned buildings.

☑️As per OSS’s lease agreement, the City is responsible for building maintenance, grounds upkeep or major system repairs or replacement (a/c, plumbing, etc.). This has been part of our agreement for the past 30 years. They are the City’s buildings and the City's grounds and upkeep of 100-year-old buildings is not cheap, but absolutely necessary for both safety and maintenance purposes.

☑️The remaining “subsidies'' referenced are not hand-outs- they are GRANTS that we apply for and are granted annually. The grants provided are investments in the community that have been made by the CRA over the last 18 years through because the programs they support further the mission of the CRA. The grant funds offset some of the costs of putting on those programs. These CRA Grants provide less than 25% of OSS’s annual operating budget. Other revenues are derived from sponsorships (up 550.677% YOY), ticket sales, private events, educational programs, food and beverage, and fundraising, and outside cultural grants (not funded through City taxpayer dollars.)

☑️In addition to OSS, the City provides similar grants to the Spady Museum, the Delray Beach Historical Society, the Delray Beach Public Library, the Arts Garage, the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, and the Delray Beach Community Land Trust.

☑️The City has failed to mention that OSS has raised millions of dollars in private funds to renovate the campus buildings, which will ultimately significantly save the city on maintenance and system repairs costs since, through those private funds, we are covering the cost of new, modernized and updated systems.
So yes, as per our 30 year lease agreement with the city, we do receive subsidies, as has always been the case. But that cannot be stated without understanding that Old School Square is Delray Beach’s greatest economic development driver, responsible for over $100M of economic activity in Delray Beach annually. The $1 per year rent is an original term that has been in place since we began our lease agreement on July 31st, 1989.

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"Agencies that receive funds from the City have financial reporting responsibilities. Transparency is a requirement. During the August 10, 2021 meeting, a majority of City Commissioners expressed their dissatisfaction with the reporting as provided by Old School Square’s staff." ⬇️

☑️The lease with the City contains a multitude of reporting requirements that even the City didn’t realize were required until they requested them last month (July 2021) - and some of the historical documents they requested from us never even existed. However, all of our financial reporting requirements, historically and currently, have been addressed.

The issue of the remaining audit from 2020 was completely out of our hands, as we lost our auditors when COVID hit, then had to go through two different RFP processes to find one that could take on our audit and provide it to us in a timely manner. That team also came down with COVID, which delayed the process even further. Here is a breakdown of the auditor issues we’ve experienced for the past year and a half:

☑️March 2020 - OSS’s auditing firm furloughed the majority of their staff, forcing them to cut their client roster and focus only on their largest, highest paying clients, and decided to let OSS go as a result.

☑️March - May 2020 - OSS issued an RFP for a new auditing firm. It took two months to find a firm that could accommodate OSS during the pandemic. Amongst the challenging conditions were a lack of adequate staff, inability to travel or work on-site, and other issues facing the industry at this time.

☑️May 2020 - Q1 2021 - OSS hired a new auditing firm in the height of the pandemic, but from the start they had issues. The firm requested payment up front, even though they felt it was critical to work on site/in person, they weren’t comfortable doing field work inside OSS’s offices. OSS offered to upload all financial records to an online portal so the auditors could examine the documents, but due to auditing regulations they refused that offer. OSS gave them a deadline for the audit, but they were unable to meet this deadline so OSS was forced to terminate them.

☑️Q1 2021 - OSS issued a second RFP for an auditing firm during the pandemic.

☑️June - July 2021 - OSS secured a new auditing team through this RFP process, but the majority of their staff came down with COVID in the midst of the audit, compelling them to temporarily suspend efforts, putting OSS further behind schedule.

☑️August 2021 - The audit team returned in full health and finalized their draft of the 2019 audit, which was presented to the City Commission prior to the meeting on Aug 10. However that audit was not considered in the final vote that took place that evening, which terminated OSS’s lease. The OSS board of directors has already voted to accept the audit and the final document has already been submitted to the city. The 2020 audit was due at the end of March. Since that audit could not be done until the 2019 audit was completed, it is now in process and is expected within six weeks..

Beyond this audit, every item requested of us in compliance - which were requested by the city in July 2021 for the first time - have been received by the City Commission.

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"So, what happens next? The City Commission has directed staff to perform due diligence to secure a new management company for Old School Square. I am hopeful that performances scheduled to take place during the next six months will continue. This beloved cultural center will likewise continue to serve the residents of Delray Beach." ⬇️

☑️Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc. is a non-profit 501.c.3 cultural organization. Old School Square Center for The Arts, Inc. IS Old School Square. We are the very entity that saved the buildings from being completely demolished 30 years ago by creating an organization governed by a volunteer board of directors that has given not only their time but their money to raise funds, create programming, and offer cultural opportunities for our community to enjoy. We created Old School Square from a run-down complex of buildings on a city block surrounded by rusted chain link fences. It is the non-profit entity Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc. that provides all of the arts, culture, education, entertainment, and community programming that exists there today. Everything OSS visitors and community members experience on its campus is because of the non-profit organization.

☑️Additionally, every asset within the OSS buildings that are required to bring the community all the programming they enjoy belongs to the Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc., the non-profit organization and not the city. This includes lighting systems, sound systems, rigging systems, seating, appliances, equipment, software, etc. This is all very clearly defined in the lease. The city’s position of simply providing a new management company to run the complex is not at all simple. The City will need to start from the ground up with empty vacant buildings in order to even begin to attempt to rebuild what has taken Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc. thirty years to create here, and that will come with a hefty price tag.

☑️Additionally, the city will need to complete the unfinished interior renovations and return the millions of dollars in private funds donated for renovations by those that bestowed the funds to our organization. Those funds were raised by and given to Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc., the non-profit organization. If you were concerned about how your tax payer dollars supported OSS before, we encourage you to stay on top of how the commission’s decision will negatively impact city tax payers as the city rebuilds this campus.

🚨 New class alert! 🚨

N I C O L E    G A L L U C C I O,  is now teaching “Color Theory in Acrylics” at Old School Square’s Creative Arts School! 🌈

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Nicole’s new class will focus on the basics of color theory, and requires no experience! See our link in bio to sign up for this and our other many classes!
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Did you know we offer music classes too? 🎶🎶🎶✨Instructor Michael Teller will be teaching “Hand Drumming for Fun, Meditation and Healing” starting June 29! It’s only $79 for four fun classes! 🥁🥁🥁
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Drums are the world's oldest musical instrument and have been connecting communities for thousands of years. Discover the magic of drumming!
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Check out all of our class offerings online! Visit the link in our bio to see what’s available. Our next term begins the week of June 28 ☀️ 🎭📸 🎨 🥁🎸🎶
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Get one-on-one online art tutoring sessions in perspective drawing from accomplished artist ✨✨✨J E N   F I S H E R ! ! ! ✨✨✨This lesson is perfect for those who cannot commit to a weekly class or require individualized attention on a specific painting or drawing project!
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Originally from New York, Jen Fisher now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, where she paints in acrylics and makes jewelry. After receiving a BFA in Interior Design, and working many years in that field, she connected with a local art school where she started teaching. Eventually she developed her own style of painting, incorporating her love of technical drawings with a palette-style of painting. Her artwork is now in demand by local museums and galleries. She has exhibited at our very own Cornell Art Museum, and currently sells pieces in the Museum Store. 🏛💛🌆
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Take SHARON KOSKOFF’s “Theme-Based Collage Class” this summer! ☀️☀️☀️   
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Create a Landscape, Portrait, Still Life and Abstract Masterpieces! Explore and learn about the fascinating world of collage and mixed media using found materials, recyclables, personal photographs, collectibles and other unusual art mediums!  Discover assemblage and construction techniques for 2-D and 3-Dimensional creations. Class includes emphasis on design principles including balance, color, composition, direction, geometry, line, repetition and shape.
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O U T of the B O X and O F F the C A N V A S!
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Think F U N! Individual attention is provided… Free your imagination!
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Check out all of our class offerings online! Visit the link in our bio to see what’s available. Our next term begins the week of June 28 ☀️ 🎭📸 🎨  
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Take a class this summer from our accomplished instructors! These works are by award-winning artist Fran Mann Goodman, who teaches “Blending Art History with Abstract Expressionism”:
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In this unique course, be free to develop your own style while learning about from the great expressionists painters of our time. Through their paintings, you will come to recognize various concepts of composition with an emphasis on balance, scale, color, tone and value. During demos you can practice playing with color mixing and unique mediums and techniques like water dripping, acrylic skins also non-traditional material like paper towels.
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Paint in the comfort of your own home and then return for a group critique. You don’t need any prior drawing or painting experience. In this class, you can’t make a mistake! 🙌You can only have the time of your life! 🙌
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Check out all of our class offerings online! Visit the link in our bio to see what’s available. Our next term begins the week of June 28 ☀️ 🎭📸 🎨  
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Sometimes life can be overwhelming, and we all need a break from stress. If you feel like this, we have ☀️☀️☀️G O O D   N E W S☀️☀️☀️:
Making art can lower your stress level and leave you feeling mentally clear and calm!
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Creating art provides a distraction, giving your brain a break from your usual thoughts.🌅
When you are totally immersed in a creative endeavor, you may find yourself in an almost ✨meditative-like✨ state, which can focus your mind and temporarily push aside your worries. Doing something creative trains you to concentrate on details and pay more attention to your environment.
In this way, it acts like meditation. 🎨🎭🎧📸🩰🎼🎻🥁
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Art classes include drawing, painting, photography, watercolor, pastel, collage and mixed media!
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Visit the link in bio to browse our offerings and sign up for classes! 🚨 Term 3 begins the week of June 28, so make sure you sign up soon! 🚨
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