Mary W. Bey is a parent ambassador with Arts Ed Newark and a member of the Arts Ed NJ cohort. A retired telecommunications professional with more than 20 years in the industry, Mary has been connected to Newark’s arts community since her teenage years. Arts Ed NJ sat down with Mary to talk about her journey, her advocacy, and why she believes the community holds the key to change.
Introduce yourself in your own words — what should our readers know about you?
I would describe myself as a wholesome thinker who tries to see what is necessary to obtain peace and harmony in life. I was once told to be content is to be happy. So I have lived my life trying to see contentment. I try to keep my wants and desires within moderation while keeping in mind how I am seen by those I encounter. This gives me balance and harmony. It also lets me see dysfunction and once seen I advocate for change since harmony is the object of my desire. Since this is a self description I do not feel the need to list my accomplishments in life other than to show the real me and what I truly seek from life.
Before we talk about the program — how have the arts shown up in your life? Whether as a student, a parent, or just someone living in this city.
The arts for the city of Newark have been a part of my life since my teens. My mother worked for the Department of Parks and Recreation, as it was called then, and was responsible for arts and crafts for the community centers of the various wards of the city. Living in Philadelphia, I would spend my summers here in Newark with my mother as she worked with the rec centers, providing art activities for the children and adults of the city. In the past, each center was designed with the arts in mind. My mother did arts and crafts, there was a music director, a professional dance instructor, and at least one physical education specialist on the team for the center. These individuals provided activities that touched various genres of the arts. In their meetings as staff members for the center, they designed a program that targeted the art expression of the community. Thus I can check all the boxes on how art has shown up in my life in this city.
Did you grow up with access to arts education? And how has that shaped the way you think about it for your own kids?
Yes, I grew up with a robust art education and involvement. Being one who loved music, this opened me to so many opportunities to engage art in all forms. My art background showed me the significance of art being taught rigorously from the beginnings of the learning process. Beat and measure along with eye and hand coordination is accomplished from beating the sticks or a drum, while releasing frustration and tensions that a child may carry. All of this is most important for the holistic development of the child. If not provided, it shows in the actions of the child when a close look is taken.
What brought you to Arts Ed Newark’s Arts Ambassadors Program, and what were you hoping to get out of it when you first joined?
Being a member of ACCA Creates, a community-based nonprofit of the West Ward of Newark, I was provided information about the program and decided to apply. Once accepted, I was seeking to understand ambassador duties as they coincided with community advocacy for the arts, along with the opportunity to join forces with like-minded people of the community to examine our problems and form ideas to solve them.
Can you walk us through the advocacy project you developed during the program? What issue did you choose to focus on, and why did it matter to you personally?
When I joined, this particular cohort was focused on the budget and the schools. How was the money acquired, distributed, and tracked? Its involvement with and importance to the district school board. Who was responsible for the oversight once funding was dispersed — which I found out was the community. It starts with us. If we don’t provide oversight of the funds and how they are spent, then who will? It is our community, making it our duty to watch what is going on. Tracking the money was a personal endeavor, since it takes money to get anything done. I needed to understand the whole funding process and how it worked on all levels. This is personal because any problem brought to the attention of the school our children attend always goes back to funding and how there is not enough to provide what is needed.
Was there a moment during the program — a class, a conversation, a realization — that shifted how you see yourself as an advocate?
My awareness of advocacy was heightened once I found that K–4th graders are considered too young to understand the benefits of the full range of art forms prescribed by law in our community. When asked what is given to K–4th grade, it only includes construction paper, watercolor paint, crayons, and chalk — yet art holds so much more to experience at any age, especially for those with disabilities. Being a caretaker and guardian of school-aged children, I have no better calling in my life than to fight to see they are provided the most robust art experience possible to prepare them for the adventures of life they are sure to encounter.
How has your involvement in this program changed the way you show up in your community — whether at a budget meeting, with a teacher, or at the Board of Education?
My program involvement has afforded me an inside track to budgeting, the laws supporting art, and the foundations’ support for the community. It tells how to show up for change and keep pounding at the door until it opens to get change invoked.
What would you say to a Newark parent who’s thinking about advocating for arts education in their child’s school but might not know where to begin?
The next cohort of the Arts Ed Newark training session would be the place to start. Since one voice is never heard, if the importance exists to make a change, join the program to learn how — while meeting and joining forces with those who stand in the same space, to see art provided along with all else in education.
