Sue Leson
It is with heavy hearts that we share the sad news of Sue Leson's passing. Sue, along with her dear friend, Marty Hayden, founded the Cranbury Arts Council in 1998. Through their incredible vision, creativity, dedication, and passion for the Arts, their legacy has touched, and continues to touch, the lives of so many.
Below is a tribute to Sue written by Marty.
Her words truly capture Sue's spirit and their outstanding contribution to the Arts both in our community and beyond.
"I don't know why but I needed to wait a couple of days before I could publicly acknowledge the passing of my dear friend and soul sister Sue Leson. Hard to know where to start. Sue and I spent so many hours of our lives together: brainstorming, creating, dreaming, imagining and actually putting our crazy ideas to work. The Cranbury Arts Council was born in the pottery studio of the Princeton Arts Council and the day we dreamt it for Cranbury we actually wrote the mission statement in my living room. We had no money and no idea what we were doing but somehow we brought it to fruition with the help of Sandie Applequist and so many other people, too many to name. Without knowing it we touched and have continued to touch the lives of so many people.
We were inspired to give our children and the people of Cranbury a place to explore Art in our community. It didn't stop there though, Sue thought our kids should be exposed to technology as a creative means and that is why we called our first summer camp the Art and Technology Camp. It was visionary.We had concerts, art shows, Art in the Park, After School and Summer Art programs at Cranbury School and the Middlesex County Youth Shelter, Musicals, student jazz concerts. We also had speaker series and we became directors of Adult Education with Bob Bartoletti's blessing, and on and on. But besides this, Sue was a wonderful mother to Lena and Charlie and second mom to my girls Jessie, Sammie and Meg. She was a mentor and friend to so many of us. So kind and gentle until she got pissed off and then everybody would scatter in different direction. She was a renaissance woman: fashion and costume designer for the American Ballet, seamstress, teacher, problem solver, handy woman, gardener, cook..... She was never afraid to get her hands dirty and share those delicious tomatoes from her garden. She had a bucket list of things she wanted to do before she passed: make beer and write a cookbook and she did. But best of all, Sue Leson was my dear friend and my companion in this spiritual journey we undertook together without knowing. Our relationship was made in heaven and joined in spirit and will continue to be into infinity.
Farewell my dear friend Sue Leson! May we meet again in a different dimension!"
Written by Marty Hayden and dedicated to Charlie Leson and Lena Leson
Join us this summer for our
MUSICAL THEATER CAMP!
We are excited to announce that we will be holding our Musical Theater Camp this summer!
JULY 12 - JULY 23, 2021
9:00am - 12:00pm
Monday through Friday
Camp will be held OUTSDIE under large tents on the blacktop area of the Cranbury School.
Maximum of 30 campers
$450 for the two-week camp
Open to students entering 3rd grade through entering 9th grade.
All NJ State COVID guidelines and all CDC COVID guidelines will be followed.
Please visit our summer camp tab for more information.
We will be performing Disney's Frozen Kids on the last day of camp!
The link to register will be posted here and on our Facebook page.
Registration will open May 15th at 10:00am.
Grassi Lakes,Banff, Canada - by artist Lisa Walsh
Make a Donation to the Cranbury Arts Council
The CAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer organization. All donations are tax deductible. Thank you for your support!
This Month at Gourgaud Gallery
Cranbury's Town Hall, and therefore our Gourgaud Gallery, are both closed until further notice.
Summer Camps
We will be holding our Musical Theater Camp only this summer. See our summer camps tab for more information!
Excellence in the Arts Award
Our 2021 application is now open! Deadline for submission is April 15, 2021. Please visit our Excellence in the Arts Award tab for more information and the link to the application. Congratulations to our 2020 Award winners, Kate Liggio and Conrad Hall. Please see the Excellence in the Arts Award tab to view their bios!
About the Cranbury Arts Council
The Cranbury Arts Council provides arts-oriented programs, workshops, and performances aimed at enriching the cultural experiences of our community and keeping the creative spirit alive in ourselves and our children.
Our mission is to foster, support, educate, inspire, and promote artists and art appreciation in our community.
The CranburyArts Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer organization.
Our funding is provided by donations and a bi-annual fundraising event.