Arts Access drama facilitator Burt Brooks puts a new spin on comedy/tragedy.
The facilitators in Matheny’s Arts Access Program have immersed themselves in the Mardi Gras spirit, creating more than two dozen masks to be part of the silent auction on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Verve, a French restaurant in Somerville, NJ. For the second straight year, Verve has selected Matheny to be the beneficiary of its Mardi Gras-Carnivale celebration, which, according to owner Rick St. Pierre, will feature “food and libations of Venice, Brazil and New Orleans, baubles, beads, gaudy decorations and cheap plastic trinkets.”
On Feb. 7-10 and Feb. 12, a portion of the proceeds at Verve will go to Matheny. Last year’s Mardi Gras celebration raised $1,900.
Since opening in the late 1990s, St. Pierre has consistently given back to the community. He was named Somerville’s Citizen of the Year in 2011, and he is chairman of the Downtown Somerville Alliance events committee. In 2008, he was given the Somerset County Business Partnership’s Economic Vitality Award.
Verve recently received a 3½ star review in The Star-Ledger. The restaurant is located at 18 East Main Street. To make reservations, call (908) 707-8655 and be sure to mention Matheny.
Some of the many masks produced by the creative crew at Arts Access.
