Honoring Barbra Feldman, supporting a performing arts center

During the global pandemic, many schools have had to put a stop to their projects, but at Lawrence Woodmere Academy we are forging ahead to better the school. 

In honor of former headmaster Barbra Feldman, who had died in 2019, the trustees, the director of performing arts Tasha Partee, Feldman’s son Andrew Barth Feldman, and her sister Rachele Tinkelman are working together to improve the performing arts program at LWA and created the Barbra Barth Feldman Performing Art Center in 2021.

Trustees Ella Schwartz, Vince Gerbino and Thomas Cesare have been overseeing this project, including the money supporting the Performing Art Center. “Barbra Feldman was my dear friend, and I miss her every day,” Schwartz said. “She loved LWA fiercely and devoted so much of her energy to make sure LWA was not just an ordinary school but rather an extraordinary experience for our families. Her love for the performing arts had no bounds, and the Barbra Barth Feldman Performing Arts Center is a fitting tribute for the legacy she began. We look forward to honoring Barbra and her memory for generations to come through our remarkable performing arts program and memorial fund.”  

“We set up the Barbara Barth Feldman Performing Arts Fund in honor of a long time member of the Lawrence Woodmere Academy community,” Thomas Cesare said. “Barbra graduated from LWA in 1982, was a long time director of LWA’s Summer Day program, and in 2019 she was selected as headmaster of the school. She was very much involved in LWA’s Performing Arts program, so much so that her son, Andrew, played the role of Evan Hanson on the Broadway stage in the show of the same name. After her unfortunate passing and to honor Barbra, we set up the BBFPAC as a separate and distinct nonprofit fund from Lawrence Woodmere Academy. The long range goal is to make the performing arts curriculum at Lawrence Woodmere Academy into a top notch performing arts center in the New York area to rival the likes of LaGuardia High School in Manhattan and others.” 

Using the BFPAC Fund, Partee, Andrew, Tinkelman, and the trustees will enhance the performing arts program and upgrade the auditorium, Hessel Hall, that will house the BBFPAC. The money will purchase new lights, soundboards, renovation of the auditorium, and anything else related to the performing arts 

The fund will also support new courses, new teachers and expand the students’ performing arts abilities; by doing this they will  be able to honor the Barbra Feldman’s memory, along with an annual scholarship awarded to a graduating LWA arts student.

To learn more and help this worthy cause with a tax-free donation, go to https://www.lawrencewoodmere.org/barbra/