Joan Oates: A Collegiate Icon
Walk the Collegiate campus – actually, walk even a few steps – with Joan Oates, and you’ll feel as if you’re in the presence of a rock star.
People gravitate to her. They stop to say hello, share a vignette, give a hug and a smile, thank her for some kindness. These days, they also offer heartfelt congratulations.
You see, the YWCA of Richmond recently announced the 10 recipients of its Outstanding Women Awards for 2007, and Joan was among them representing her area of expertise, her sphere of influence, and her lifelong love: the arts.
“I was just struck dumb when I got the phone call,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Me?!’ I’ve never had an honor like this.”
If the news stunned Joan, it brought a collective cheer from her many friends, including those on North Mooreland Road, who understand her abiding interest in young people and their teachers and her dedication to artistic endeavors.
Debbie Mickle, director of Partners in the Arts, submitted Joan’s nomination. She knows her well, for Joan was the visionary and founding chairman behind the arts-in-education organization which since 1994 has served schools, public and independent, in Central Virginia.
“Joan is so passionate about the arts because she’s seen the impact the arts have had on so many children’s lives,” said Mickle. “She’s an inspiration by the way she lives her life.”
A program of the Arts Council of Richmond (of which Joan is a board member), Partners in the Arts is a collaboration of educators, artists, and arts groups whose mission is to assist teachers as they integrate visual and performing arts into the core curriculum.
Very much through Joan’s quiet leadership, it has provided grants totaling $650,000 to area schools, scholarships for teachers for arts-in-the-classroom projects, a library of curriculum samples and lesson plans, and a weeklong Summer Institute where teachers of all grade levels and subject areas convene at the University of Richmond to immerse themselves in the arts.
“Partners in the Arts is a win-win situation,” Joan explained. “Teachers love it. It gives them a new way of teaching. Students love it. It’s a new way of learning.”
That, in a nutshell, is the program, but who is Joan Oates, the driving force behind it?
She’s a Brookline, MA, native who came from a family that customarily sang around the piano. She’s an alumna of Bennington College in Vermont where the arts were a major part of the curriculum. She has a graduate degree in education from Harvard.
She’s a former Collegiate Lower School music teacher who incorporated movement education in her always lively classroom and an instructor of creative teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University. She’s been instrumental in the planning and development of many campus projects including the Hershey Center for the Arts which houses the Oates Theater, named in honor of her and her husband, the late Dr. James F. Oates. She’s the proud mother of four Collegiate alumni, all of whom have earned graduate degrees, and the grandmother of nine.
She’s gracious, intelligent, eloquent, generous, and modest. She’s a musician, artist, and dancer. She plays the piano each day and recently began organ lessons. She walks regularly, rides her bicycle, plays golf, and travels.
She remains a well-respected voice in the Collegiate community, serving as a Life Trustee, visiting often from her home at Cedarfield, dispensing advice, sharing wisdom, mentoring, and, well, just being Joan.
“What a dynamic lady and a vital force in the arts in this community!” said Dr. Jill Hunter, head of the Lower School, the home of several Partners in the Arts projects. “She has a wonderful way about her. I’ve always said that when I grow up, I want to be Joan Oates.”
~ Weldon Bradshaw
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You see, the YWCA of Richmond recently announced the 10 recipients of its Outstanding Women Awards for 2007, and Joan was among them representing her area of expertise, her sphere of influence, and her lifelong love: the arts.
“I was just struck dumb when I got the phone call,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Me?!’ I’ve never had an honor like this.”
If the news stunned Joan, it brought a collective cheer from her many friends, including those on North Mooreland Road, who understand her abiding interest in young people and their teachers and her dedication to artistic endeavors.
Debbie Mickle, director of Partners in the Arts, submitted Joan’s nomination. She knows her well, for Joan was the visionary and founding chairman behind the arts-in-education organization which since 1994 has served schools, public and independent, in Central Virginia.
“Joan is so passionate about the arts because she’s seen the impact the arts have had on so many children’s lives,” said Mickle. “She’s an inspiration by the way she lives her life.”
A program of the Arts Council of Richmond (of which Joan is a board member), Partners in the Arts is a collaboration of educators, artists, and arts groups whose mission is to assist teachers as they integrate visual and performing arts into the core curriculum.
Very much through Joan’s quiet leadership, it has provided grants totaling $650,000 to area schools, scholarships for teachers for arts-in-the-classroom projects, a library of curriculum samples and lesson plans, and a weeklong Summer Institute where teachers of all grade levels and subject areas convene at the University of Richmond to immerse themselves in the arts.
“Partners in the Arts is a win-win situation,” Joan explained. “Teachers love it. It gives them a new way of teaching. Students love it. It’s a new way of learning.”
That, in a nutshell, is the program, but who is Joan Oates, the driving force behind it?
She’s a Brookline, MA, native who came from a family that customarily sang around the piano. She’s an alumna of Bennington College in Vermont where the arts were a major part of the curriculum. She has a graduate degree in education from Harvard.
She’s a former Collegiate Lower School music teacher who incorporated movement education in her always lively classroom and an instructor of creative teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University. She’s been instrumental in the planning and development of many campus projects including the Hershey Center for the Arts which houses the Oates Theater, named in honor of her and her husband, the late Dr. James F. Oates. She’s the proud mother of four Collegiate alumni, all of whom have earned graduate degrees, and the grandmother of nine.
She’s gracious, intelligent, eloquent, generous, and modest. She’s a musician, artist, and dancer. She plays the piano each day and recently began organ lessons. She walks regularly, rides her bicycle, plays golf, and travels.
She remains a well-respected voice in the Collegiate community, serving as a Life Trustee, visiting often from her home at Cedarfield, dispensing advice, sharing wisdom, mentoring, and, well, just being Joan.
“What a dynamic lady and a vital force in the arts in this community!” said Dr. Jill Hunter, head of the Lower School, the home of several Partners in the Arts projects. “She has a wonderful way about her. I’ve always said that when I grow up, I want to be Joan Oates.”
~ Weldon Bradshaw
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