The weekend of October 7 and 8, 1989 marked the official opening of The Hill School Center For The Arts. It was celebrated with a memorable performance by George Plimpton and The New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble on Friday evening and a stellar performance by jazz great Billy Taylor and the Billy Taylor Trio, Saturday night.
This year, the Center For The Arts, dubbed the “CFTA” before it even opened, celebrates 20 years of serving The Hill School and Pottstown communities. Throughout its history, the Center has presented outstanding performing artists and ensembles as well as superlative fine art exhibits by prominent regional artists. At the same time, the CFTA has supported student-produced musical and theatrical performances as well as the efforts of talented Hill students in the visual arts. And, as a former faculty member once claimed of the CFTA lobby, “It is the best four star restaurant in Pottstown.”
A Hill Ties article published at the time described the events leading up to the center’s opening:
Months before ground-breaking ceremonies in January 1988, the design by Philadelphia’s H2L2 Architects and Planners received the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ 1987 Silver Medal Award, the highest award given to a project design prior to construction…The Center For The Arts, proudly facing the Dell, unites the arts under one roof. The state-of-the-art facility houses a 722-seat theater, classrooms acoustically designed for music instruction and dramatics, individual music practice rooms, an ensemble practice room, and an art studio and gallery that provide museum-quality space and light for fine arts creation and exhibitions.
The Center went on to win First Place in the National Excellence in Construction Competition for the Wohlsen Construction Company
Evolution of the arts
Following its opening, Center Director Burton Merriam and Gallery Coordinator Ellen Nelson designated what had formally been thought of as the main entrance of the Center to serve as an art gallery. Now named the Boyer Art Gallery in honor of Nancy and James Boyer '43, the Gallery has hosted more than 100 exhibits.
In addition, the School’s Humanities Series, funded through the Humanities Department for over thirty years, was relocated to the CFTA from Memorial Hall in what is now the John P. Ryan Library to make way for its expansion. At the time of the change in venue, the series was overseen by then Humanities chair, John Anderson. It hosted three to four music concerts each year, featuring classical musicians and chamber ensembles for the Pottstown community. However in 1996, the Humanities Series merged with a more recently founded cousin, the Lively Arts Series. This expanded the Lively Arts series roster to include a variety of events that were presented to the students of The Hill as well as members of the local community. In 1999, a third series, For Young Audiences, was also absorbed into the Lively Arts Series, creating what was arguably, the finest performing arts series in the area.
Other art programs made a successful transition to the CFTA from Memorial Hall. The J. Webster Sandford Festival of the Arts, which had been created to provide Hill boys with a much needed break during the winter term, moved from Memorial Hall. The festival was later shifted from a two-day to a one-day event. Due to the generosity of Mrs. Sandford, the fund continued to provide outstanding performing arts programs for another decade following the transition, events that would have otherwise been unaffordable to the School.