A New Stage For Master Arts?
Tim VanBruggen of Master Arts Theatre (center) shows onlookers the lobby of their prospective new home.Master Arts Theatre (MAT) executive director Tim Van Bruggen paused while giving a tour of what could be his organization's new home."The square footage of this lobby is bigger than our current auditorium," he told onlookers.
"That's a terrible statistic, but it's also funny," he smiled.
The faith-based theatre company has an inside track for a move to the relatively spacious Central Christian Church in the 2500 block of Leonard St. NE near the I-96 expressway.
Four "test-run" August performances in the prospective space were successful with full houses and also drawing a wave of financial donations.
But a sale is not a done deal. A purchase deadline from the soon-to-be-closing church looms and there are zoning matters which Master Arts currently has under consideration.
Dear Friends:
This is the column in which West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area's faith-inspired arts/entertainment/enrichment events in the coming month. Here are a few possibilities for September....
An initiative Kuyper College recently launched that will start this fall will enable students to earn a degree, work a part-time entry-level job and help pay their tuition. It's the first of its kind in Michigan.
Ryan Corcoran has been appointed principal of Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic School. Corcoran was selected with a unanimous recommendation from the search committee consisting of teachers, parents, the retiring principal and school board members. He most recently served as assistant principal at Saint Thomas for one year. Prior to that, he taught English and theology and coordinated the international student program at West Catholic High School in Grand Rapids. He is trilingual, speaking Spanish and Chinese in addition to English. Corcoran has previously taught in university, high school, kindergarten and preschool classrooms in China; elementary and high schools in Spain; and online adult education for students from around the world. He also has experience teaching special education.
Cause Camp, a national nonprofit immersive conference, has added a fall session October 13-15 at the Eberhard Center on the campus of Grand Valley State University's downtown Grand Rapids campus. The conference is presented by Nonprofit Hub and Do More Good following their merger at the close of 2020.
Calvin University's Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees has selected a 16-member presidential search committee following the resignation earlier this year of current president Micheal Le Roy.
