It was a great day in 2007 when Jodi Luntz, a Dreyfoos parent and Foundation board member, asked Gil Maurer to visit the Dreyfoos School. Mr. Maurer became quite enamored with the school, its students and teachers. At the end of the tour he asked if we could use funding to bring guest artists to the school. Since then, the Dreyfoos School of the Arts Foundation has been the recipient of 6 grants totaling $450,000. These grants have supported the guest artist program at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts.

Mr. Maurer is a member of the Hearst Corporation’s Board of Directors, director of the Hearst Foundations and served for eight years as Hearst’s chief operating officer. Prior to becoming COO, Maurer led Hearst Magazines as its president for 14 years.

Last year, Hearst artists provided over 1,700 hours of instruction. Students have received instruction from Broadway choreographers, dancers from Alvin Ailey, jazz greats like Marcus Printup and famous visual artist like Janet Fish.

The guest artists program challenges students to stretch into new art areas not previously explored. One great example was last year’s production of Midsummer. The students playing fairies were taught aerial silk performance for the show by a Dreyfoos graduate Rain Anya, who is an aerial artist. The technical theatre students were taught how to rig the set for the aerial performers and fly in scenery by another guest artist.

The mission of the Hearst Foundations are to fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and inspiring lives. The Guest Artist grant has certainly inspired many of the students and has had a transformational effect on the art programs at Dreyfoos.