Elgin Academy hosts Sept. 11 exhibit

Just like the end of “Mr. Holland's Opus, the recent budget crisis has prompted many school districts to cut the arts.

For example, Cary Elementary District 26 last year laid off its arts and music staff, leaving general education teachers, parents and community members to provide instruction in the arts.

John Cooper, head of Elgin Academy, cringes when he sees arts on the chopping block. Granted, Elgin Academy is a private school, but Cooper's points are valid, nevertheless.

Cooper penned an essay recently that appeared in Quintessential Barrington magazine titled “Children and the Arts.

In it, he writes of the need to balance fiscal responsibility with a well-rounded education: “There is a need for school budgets to be balanced, but somehow we have to find a way to keep fine arts alive and a vital part of a well-rounded education.

Cooper also talks about education as an end in itself: “The end, or purpose, is to become a self-reflective and self-directed individual, a free person in every sense of the term. … A liberated mind is one that has been liberally educated.

He concludes: “So the arts are not just a frill. They are a major part of first-rate education.

In that spirit, Elgin Academy is hosting what promises to be an intriguing exhibit of abstract art inspired by the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Until the end of the month, the school's Sears Gallery Theatre will host an exhibit of work by George Kokines, a Chicago native who was at the World Trade Center when the planes hit.

Cooper said he jumped at the chance to host the exhibit at Elgin Academy after the work was displayed at the Gail Borden Public Library last month.

“It will be displayed for the first time in a linear fashion, Cooper said. “Even the artist hasn't seen it this way.

Cooper sees the exhibit as part of the school's liberal arts mission, saying, “Painting has always been a huge part of our curriculum at Elgin Academy.

The hope is to find other locations to display Kokines' work throughout Elgin as the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, Cooper said.

To schedule an appointment to view the exhibit, e-mail Danese Bardot at dbardot@elginacademy.org.