Many events to mark the 10th anniversary of the Center for the Arts at Highland School in Warrenton are planned for next year, culminating in a gala May 31, 2014. Recently, at one of these celebratory events, local artist and art educator William Woodward presented a lecture on the arts and education in the Rice Theater at the Center for the Arts.

He began by reminding parents that the debate over the ideal education for children has its origins at least as long ago as ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks took into account the education of the mind, the body, and the imagination. "If there is too much emphasis on the gymnastic aspects of education, then a warlike society is created. But when the gymnastic aspects are tempered with aesthetics, you help to create a balanced child."

This is just one reason that Woodward feels it is vital that the arts are included in a school's curriculum. He spoke about the role that art has played in his own life and told many stories, both profound and humorous, of his life as a developing and established artist.

Woodward's passion for art began with representing the things of the world that he loves best. In college, he turned briefly to abstract art, "flinging paint at the canvas just like Jackson Pollock." However, he soon returned to figurative painting and his interest in narrative art eventually opened the door to commissions for what is now an astonishing body of narrative murals. One mural, "The Great Odyssey of Medicine" is at Fairfax Inova Hospital. It is a bold and dramatic depiction of the history of medicine. Woodward loves painting murals not only for their inherent drama but also because he says he learns so much in the research and planning stages for these large scale visual histories.

In addition, he has the distinction of creating the largest single painting by one artist in the 20th century: his renowned mural of circus life, "The Greatest Show on Earth" formerly at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey corporate headquarters in Vienna, Virginia, and now in Sarasota, Florida.

As an art educator, some of the skills that he teaches his students sound remarkably like skills needed for navigating everyday life: having patience, creating without fear, and believing in yourself, taking yourself seriously. Ultimately, Woodward stated, art "helps people to develop their own uniqueness, their own individuality. They become who they can be."

Head of School Henry Berg summed up the morning's lecture. "On the 10th Anniversary of our Center for the Arts at Highland, we wanted to bring in an artist and art educator to speak to the community about the importance of integrating the arts into the school curriculum as well as into our children's lives. At Highland, aesthetics are an important part of our sensibility. The Performing Arts Center was a wonderful gift to the school and to the community from the Rice family. It has allowed our students to flourish in both the visual and performing arts. As Professor Woodward put it so well, the arts help students along in the process of becoming who they can be: unique individuals with unique gifts."

The Performing Arts Center at Highland School features a 60 seat "Black Box" theater, music practice rooms, an instrumental room, a choral room, drama classrooms, a "Green Room", a spacious art gallery, a 2-D art room, 3-D art room, a photography lab, a digital filmmaking lab, a print room, lobby and the 355 seat Rice Theater. For more information, visit www.highlandschool.org and click on the Fine Arts tab for information on upcoming events, to purchase tickets, to view Gallery photos, and more. Highland School is a PK through Grade 12 coed, independent day school in Warrenton, Va., challenging students to develop the skills and abilities that they will need to thrive in the next stage of their lives.