We begin 2021 in a similar way as we have for at least the last 45 years…by presenting people, ideas, and courses that foster action, cull compassion, and create unique educational and community connections. Looking back through our catalog archives I am grateful to all the teachers and students whose names are listed in catalogs going back over the years…and I am thankful too for past program directors including DeForest G. Matthews, Barbara Crane, and Robin Tartaglia, who have passed such a bright baton of educational excellence to me and the LCE team of Andrea, Amy and Deniele. While the packaging of the program has changed over the years, the quality of our teachers and the commitment of our learning community remains perpetually engaged, engaging, smart, and strong.
Looking forward to our online classes in Computers, Cooking, Exercis
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Related somewhat to our catalogs…Recently, a long-time Lexington resident inquired about the stylized image of Captain John Parker that we currently use on our website and catalog. The stylized image of the face comes from a photograph that our catalog designer Robert Pehlke and I took some years ago now, in an attempt to capture a face-to-face image of Henry Hudson Kitson’s masterful sculpture. When we featured the photo on the print catalog cover back in 2011, many loved it, many didn’t recognize it as Lexington’s Minuteman, and many were pleased by the opportunity to gaze into the eyes of Kitson’s masterful rendition. Although a beacon of Lexington center and the Battle Green, the vantage point of passersby doesn’t allow for a direct look at the detail work in the face of the Captain Parker statue, leaving some confused as to why there is an image of an ancient Roman statue, or a Greek god on our web and print materials! From the photograph we took, Robert Pehlke created the “cell shaded” two-tone image that can now be found on our site and print catalog mailing postage return. As the widening of perspectives is at the core of our educational mission, the reaction of many viewers of this image symbolizes hitting the mark of transforming confusion into clarity, and revealing the at-first unrecognized as the familiar in conclusion.
I lift an early afternoon coffee cup (after a late New Year’s Eve/early New Year’s Day celebration with family and friends on Zoom) to you and yours. Here’s to a good year ahead…and to at least 45 more years of community and education at Lexington Community Ed. Thank you for your participation and support!
Happy New Year!
Craig Hall, Director of Lexington Community Education
A Self-Supporting Program of the Lexington Public Schools
