Art A La Carte gives families an in-person free, fun-filled celebration of art, performances, and tasty treats

A previous year Art A La Carte offered children the opportunity to express their creativity. Photo courtesy Susan Brazelton

By Suman Ganapathy

Suman Ganapathy

Families with young children wanting to share some fun under the sun, the city of Morgan Hill has a special springtime event for you.

After a gap of two years due to the pandemic, the Library, Culture and Arts Commission (LCAC), partnering with the city and the Morgan Hill Community Foundation, is excited to bring back Art à La Carte, everyone’s favorite free arts-and-crafts event for children aged 2 to 10 years. It will be held at the Downtown Amphitheater of the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center on Saturday, April 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

All seven members of LCAC have a role in putting this event together, chaired by Commissioner Paul Lake, who recently joined the Planning Commission after eight years of service, and yet conscientiously continues with his LCAC obligations.

We unanimously selected the theme “Be the Change you Want to See in the World,” attributed to Gandhi.

Inspirational and thought-provoking, with layers of meaning and interpretation for all ages, especially during this pandemic, it encourages our youths to think deeply. What is the change they would like to see? Would they have the courage and strength to initiate it and change the world to become a better version of the present? We hope you will have that conversation with your children at home even before coming to the event, and be astounded at their perceptive answers. This hopeful, action-oriented and positive theme is perfect for our times.

As always, we have booths with theme-related arts and crafts projects. All materials and supplies are provided generously by our local businesses and organizations. There are many new participants this year, but we have also regrettably lost some regular ones to these difficult times, and will miss them. Thank you to these wonderful organizations and businesses for setting up booths and contributing to the success of the event: Art on the Farm, City of Morgan Hill Recreation, Cub Scout Pack 700, Engenius Learning Center, Friends of the Morgan Hill Library, Morgan Hill Bible Church, Morgan Hill Department of Environmental Services, Morgan Hill Library, Morgan Hill Parent Child Nursery School, Morgan Hill Police Department, Morgan Hill Preschool Academy, Morgan Hill United School District, San Martin 4-H Club, Soaring Acton Academy, South Valley Science and Engineering Fair, Therapy Zone 4 Kids, YMCA Mt. Madonna.

Thank you to these six performing teams to entertain everyone: Taekwondo, Groupo Folklorico de San Martin, Chiqlets Dance Team, Indian Classical, Dance from the movie “Madagascar” by IASC, and Bollywood.

The Fire & Ice Food Truck will keep you well fed, and the Cal Fire truck, police educational car, Splash the Dolphin, and many more fun features promise your family an enjoyable and educational family outing.

Our LCAC team was determined to bring back Art A La Carte to enable our children to experience an in-person free, fun-filled celebration of art, performances, and tasty treats, again out in the open on a glorious spring day – and we look forward to everyone participating in our theme this year.

See you at Art A La Carte, Morgan Hill families!

Suman Ganapathy is a member of the Morgan Hill branch of the American Association of University Women. She wrote this for Morgan Hill Life.