Tuesdays with Mimi
Mimi Haggerty addresses Art Goes to School volunteers. Photo: Sonia Sherrod
It might have been the texture of Sheila’s coffee cake, or the relaxed way Laura challenged us, during her presentation, to count the lion cubs in a 1952 Michael Nichols photograph.
Or perhaps it was the quiet promise that Mimi Haggerty had made to me over the phone, “You’ll come on Tuesday, and you can just listen, and we hope you’ll want to come back.” Some perfect combination of those things, plus a few more — the hot coffee to go with that wonderful cake, seeing a friendly neighbor, or the banter about Picasso’s muses — intrigued me to return the following Tuesday to learn more about our local chapter of Art Goes to School (AGTS). Mimi, a Wallingford native, has meticulously led our chapter for nearly 30 years.
AGTS, founded in 1962, is a nonprofit volunteer organization of over 625 members, who bring art appreciation classes to nearly 155,000 elementary school children in the Delaware Valley. It has chapters in 44 school districts throughout southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Our district’s chapter gives presentations to K-7 classes in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District and beyond, including Stetser Elementary and Frederick Douglass Christian School in Chester, and Eddystone Elementary in Eddystone, as well as to adult daycare centers, senior centers, libraries, and preschools.
Mimi Haggerty, left, and Melissa Hoy representing AGTS at the 2019 CAC Fine Arts & Crafts Festival. Photo: Shannon Dietzmann Elliott
My first AGTS Tuesday was three years ago — Mimi’s was in the early nineties. She recently recalled, “It was all about getting lunch or coffee, meeting with friends, and learning about art. I had taken some art history in college — but make sure you let people know that is NOT a prerequisite!” She was telling me this because, after three decades, she’s decided the time is right for her to step down.
Mimi’s professional background as an educator, and her eight years serving on the board of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District undoubtedly prepared her for her role with AGTS. She also served as a Girl Scout leader for 20 years, including 10 years leading a troop of special education students in collaboration with the Easter Seals organization. She’s also a docent at the Thomas Leiper House — the historic estate in Wallingford. Her passions manifest themselves in everything she does.
“It’s really about helping kids take a close look — it’s important for them to understand that people have different views, and that all opinions are valuable and important.” In addition to preparing volunteers like me to present art to students, Mimi has created a space in which curious people — from all backgrounds, and at all stages of life — can gather, combine their love of continuing education with their enthusiasm for educating children, and cultivate lifelong friendships along the way. Mimi would often start a chapter meeting by encouraging us to write cards to former members who might be touched by well-wishes, or by collecting funds to send one of them a bouquet of flowers.
Mimi Haggerty. Photo: Lisa Brumbaugh Hill
The Covid-19 pandemic didn’t hinder Mimi or our efforts at AGTS. In addition to recruiting and maintaining our community of volunteer members, she continued her unwavering leadership of our chapter and encouraged us to meet over Zoom (on Tuesdays, of course) to develop video presentations to be shared with the district. It wasn’t easy to shift to a virtual education model; many of us needed to learn to use a whole new world of digital tools to accomplish our goals.
You might be wondering who we’ve found to carry on Mimi’s amazing work at AGTS. Well, we couldn’t find one person who could do it all. In the end, it’s taken no fewer than nine members to replace the many roles that Mimi filled on her own all of these years. And we’re thrilled that she will remain an active member, enjoying the coffee cake from the back row. “I do it because I love it,” she says.
Mimi’s advice to anyone considering AGTS: “Give it a try! Be open to the information and to the members.”
If you’re interested in joining our local AGTS chapter and helping to carry on Mimi’s amazing work, you simply need to be curious about art and art history, and comfortable around kids. You’ll join us for five Tuesdays at the beginning of each school semester. We’ll be sure to bring you up to speed in no time. And don’t worry if you are not a coffee-cake fan, the snacks are different each week! Come for the art, stay for the connection.
Please email melissa@papersatchel.com for more information about volunteering with Art Goes to School.
