Celebrating Delaware’s culture and arts with new administration

Gov. John Carney and Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long attended a Delaware Celebration of the Arts performance Jan. 14, at Clear Space Theatre in Rehoboth. The celebration focused on how art education programs shape youth in a positive way. 

Visual arts from students from Visual Art Exhibition in the Amandeline Art Gallery, including art from The Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware - Pegasus ArtWorks Project; Indian River High School Visual Arts Class; and the Sussex Central High School Visual Arts Class, lined the walls of the Amandeline Art Gallery before the theatre opened for live performances.

Hannah Sturgis, a student at Polytech High School and poetry award winner, gave a moving reading of her original poems. Gov. Carney quoted Hannah’s poem in his inaugural speech, saying, “We heard from Polytech High School Senior Hannah Sturgis. Hannah’s a teenage poet, but she has a wise old soul. She recited for us a poem she wrote called “Vision.” It struck a chord with me, and I think it sets the tone I’d like to set here today. I won’t do Hannah’s delivery justice, but I’d like to read a few excerpts now:”

When I look up at the sky I see my dreams bouncing by

Like clouds of promise that keep me honest

Where they can go I don’t know but the road I walk might be long

I get vision when I know that life is changing and my goals are rearranging

I have vision because life is not a hopeless dream

Life is what we make it seem

And when we were young we were told to be like the sun and beam

So I keep on with that vision

Students from Sussex Academy, Cape Henlopen, Polytech, and Indian River schools, young performers with Clear Space Theatre, and Nanticoke Indian dance and drum troupe, were part of the live performance. 

The program continued Sunday at P.S. DuPont Middle School.