MoorArts takes fundraising online

Many of us yearn for the days of attending concerts, plays or other arts performances, and the local nonprofit MoorArts is no exception.

Every other year, the organization hosts a fundraising gala with an array of performances to help fund its arts based teacher grants and scholarships in Moorestown’s public schools, but the COVID-19 has rendered that impossible. 

Instead, MoorArts will host its first virtual fundraiser on Friday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. “Heart in the Arts” will be a virtual concert event, with proceeds raised through ticket sales benefitting MoorArts’ scholarship and grant programs. 

Teaching staff, scholarship recipients and local performers who have worked with MoorArts volunteered their time to create a virtual concert showcasing their vocal and instrumental talents. A few grant and scholarship recipients will also offer testimonials about what MoorArts brings to the community.

Georgean Wardszinski, MoorArts president, said like the majority of the arts and nonprofit community, the MoorArts’ events and social gatherings that provided the organization’s usual revenue streams could not occur in the last year. So, the MoorArts leadership team needed to consider other avenues to promote the arts,  while replacing at least a portion of the income it would have normally received. With that, “Heart in the Arts” was born.

Amy Penwell, MoorArts board member, said the concert will be a sort of “musical journey through the pandemic.” The showcase will begin with songs that speak to loss and loneliness and move to music about self-discovery and realizing what’s most important in life. Finally, the concert will close on a hopeful note for the future. 

Penwell said thus far, she’s been thrilled by the response MoorArts has received. The performers it reached out to were ready and willing to prepare a performance and record themselves. 

“I’m just blown away,” she Penwell added. 

Since 2015, MoorArts has funded 25 teacher grants valued at more than $35,000, and $50,000 in scholarships to 88 students. Typically, the funds are generated through a variety of fundraising efforts, including concession sales at performing arts events throughout the school district. But the pandemic has put in person performances on hold, as well as the organization’s usual fundraising methods, for the foreseeable future. 

Penwell said teachers are delivering content with ingenuity and passion and grant requests have increased. She said graduating students who participate in the arts continue to demonstrate their commitment and deserve to be supported through scholarships.

Wardszinski said MoorArts staffers know that will not begin to replace the income from previous revenue streams, but they’re hopeful the event will be successful and exceed expectations.  

“MoorArts invites everyone to join us by taking a little over an hour to experience wonderful local performers,” she noted. 

Tickets are $25 and each ticket holder can view the concert during a livestream and for a period of 10 days following the live event. Tickets can be purchased until March 22.

To learn more about MoorArts or to purchase tickets, visit www.MoorArts.org.