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Down By the BAY
Niantic's Little Red Barn for Artistic Youth by Sarah Crisp
I
f, as Lailah Gifty Akita says, "We only radiate the inner self," Sophia and Bill Brubaker must have been born artists. They continue to radiate their true passion for art education with insight, exuberance, and purpose.
On their 25th wedding anniversary, they quite literally ran around The Louvre on what Bill describes as an ‘Art March'… Sophia's bucket list of the most iconic pieces of art that Paris could offer, researched and planned in just two days after Bill surprised her with tickets to
Paris. “Instead of the lunch I had anticipated at a beautiful little Parisian bistro, we ate cafeteria sandwiches as fast as we could!” A love of art is universal and clearly transcends the barrier of language. “I couldn't speak more than a few words of French; and I am sure it wouldn't be allowed now, but I was able to charm the guard into allowing us to stay in the final gallery just a few minutes past closing time." Bill beams – it would seem that Sophia got to cross one last statue off her list; and Bill’s surprise made up for the twenty-five-year delay in their honeymoon plans, due to a last minute change in his orders at the Coast Guard Academy.
them, from Minnesota to Alaska and from kindergarten thru high school. "I've seen the best of programs … and the worst," she says with a smile.
In 2003 Sophia found herself at a turning point in her life. She had earned her BA in studio art at Wesleyan University and certification to teach art in grades K-12. She had spent her career making the best of art rooms (or mobile art carts) wherever Bill's Coast Guard career took
Now Sophia faced a choice: Continue to fight for art to have equal standing in the time and resource-squeezed curriculum of most public schools, or try something different. With a small inheritance from Bill's mother, the Brubakers converted a barn on their property
When Bill's career brought them back to Sophia's native Niantic, she enrolled in a graduate program at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her peers in that program were a vibrant mix of museum educators, teachers, and community arts educators. They infused her with a diversity of perspectives and inspired her to develop her own vision of a Community Arts Education Program.