Page 26 - Abacoa Community News - March '25

Page 26, Abacoa
Benzaiten Center For Creative Arts

Do Not Miss The Most Fun using the least amount of tape
as possible. He must have done
Gala In Town! a good job as he was accepted,
and subsequently attended
Each year the Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts Bak for the next three years.
holds a gala to help raise money for their many “kids and After that, he went onto the
scholarship” programs. It is considered the most fun and Dreyfoos School of the Arts
least expensive gala in town. So, if you’ve never attended, and ultimately would finish his
you are truly missing out! junior and senior years at Lake
Held on the veranda of the National Croquet Club’s Worth High School, where he
center, overlooking its lush green lawns, it a great venue was encouraged to take part
for Benzaitens’s annual gala. The men love it because it in the city’s famous “Street
is a casual affair, and after dressing up all season this is a Painting Festival.”
welcome reprieve. The silent auction is stellar due to all the His schooling, spent
many talented glass artists who contribute to it each year. predominantly in schools Croquet Club’s veranda venue
They are so thankful to have such a great glass art facility dedicated to the arts, offered
here in Palm Beach County that they are more than happy him a tremendous education in art that he would have never in their comradery and experiencing their strong sense
to support the cause with some of their best work. Also, received attending ordinary schools. Thinking art consisted of community and shared knowledge. He understood the
because of an inside connection with a major wine collector, mainly of painting and drawing when he began, his mind fullness of what it meant to call yourself a professional artist.
the silent auction provides some of the best wines to bid opened to what else was possible. He learned color theory, Yes, it could be fun, but it also meant many long years of
on such as Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Margaux, art history, different styles and disciplines, trying his hand hard work to hone your skills and to ultimately develop a
or Chateau D’Yqeum … just to name a few! Sandy James at etching, sculpting and many other mediums. signature style that you could call your own.
who is the in-house food purveyor for the Croquet Club After high school he went to work on a cleaning crew He now works at Benzaiten five days a week, which has
always offers up some of the best catered food in town. And with his parents. He might have been stuck in that job had it enabled him to quit his cleaning job. Working as an assistant
because JoAnne (JB) Berkow, founder and president of the not been for a sign he noticed about a place called Benzaiten to the many different professional artists who rent time at
center insists on everyone having a good time, she always Center for Creative Arts, which had glassblowing classes. He Benzaiten has empowered Mateo and made him proficient
makes sure that the band is the best at getting people up had to check it out. Once in the center, watching people doing enough in his skills so that one day soon, he will be able
and dancing! the extraordinarily hard work of blowing glass into beautiful to begin making his own exotic creations. A career in art is
But just as important to Berkow and the entire board of creations, he was hooked. Determined to accumulate the definitely not for the faint of heart.
the Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts is raising money for necessary money to take the six-week beginner’s course, To learn more about the gala, please contact the
their many outreach programs in arts and culture by means he saved up enough to cover half the tuition and paid the Benzaiten office or go to their website and press “On the
of free classes and scholarships for young adults who want other half with his tax return’s dividend check. This was a Veranda” under the “Events” tab. You can also make a
to continue a career in art. “We see well over 1,000 kids determined young man. He began volunteering when he donation online or by contacting the office.
through our doors each year free of charge,” says Berkow, could and the Benzaiten’s staff was so impressed with his www.benzaitencenter.org
adding, “This gives these children and teens an exposure abilities and determination that he won a small scholarship (561) 508-7315
to the arts and what it means to make art that they would that enabled him to take the center’s next level, eight-week inspired@benzaitencenter.org
otherwise not be exposed to. It also instills in them a deeper course. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
cultural appreciation that will hopefully stay with them for Since then, he has won another, larger scholarship and Find Us: 1105 Second Avenue South, Lake Worth Beach,
a lifetime. We also give thousands of scholarship dollars finally was sponsored by the center, and friends of the center, FL 33460
away each year as well. Some we give to talented, in-need to be Rob Stern’s assistant at Pilchuk, the internationally GPS doesn’t always get you here: Exit I-95 at Sixth
artists, and others we give to benefit organizations such as famous glass school founded by Dale Chihuly. During this Avenue and go east. Take a left at the blue Kwik Stop Store
the Boys and Girls Clubs to enable them to participate in stint he met many hardworking professional artists who and then a right on Third Avenue South. Park in our parking
our summer kids’ programs.” have made their careers in the field of glassblowing, sharing lot or anywhere on the street.

The Following Is An
Intriguing Scholarship

Success Story

David Mateo’s
journey towards his
chosen career in art
was anything but
average. After all,
in the rough, tight-
knit, Guatemalan,
working-class
n e i g h b o r h o o d ,
like the one where
David grew up, no
kid would dare to
imagine a career in
art. It just wasn’t
done. How would his
father tolerate such a
departure from their David Mateo, one of Benzaiten’s
shared collective scholarship successes
reality? Of course,
that was exactly the typical reaction one would expect,
and the patriarch of Mateo’s family was no exception. The
Mayan culture, as so many cultures around the world, is set
up as a male-dominated society. However, as we all know,
many households within such societies are often ruled by its
women. Here’s where Mateo’s dreams of an art career got
a helping hand. Constantly drawing and doodling from an
early age, he obtained the encouragement from his mother
to keep his artistic impulses alive and well.
He lived in the second poorest city in Palm Beach
County, Lake Worth, attending South Grade Elementary
School, one of the city’s many Title 1 schools. He was able
to take some art classes, and one day, at one of the school’s
art exhibits, a scout from the Bak Middle School of the Arts
approached Mateo about applying to his school. With help
from his teachers and other kids who had gone through the
same process, he filled out the necessary application forms
and set up a date for his “tryout.” He’ll never forget that
day. Full of nervous tension, he went to the Bak MSOA’s
campus where he and other potential students were led into a
room with four kids at each table. These tables were stocked
with sheets of card-stock paper, scissors and tape, and each
child was given the same assignment: to build a structure