McLean Arts Center closing

McLEAN — After 50 years of sharing her passion for the arts, the founder of the McLean Arts Center, Molly Vick, said her school will close on June 1 for lack of funds.

Diana Carswell, a closely involved student of 20 years at the center, described the loss as “a chapter in an era that’s ending” for the community. She blamed the closing on a modern culture that too often forgets to preserve its “jewels” from the past.

As a young ballet dancer with a desire to teach, Mrs. Vick opened the ballet school here in 1959. At a time when few women owned businesses, a pregnant Mrs. Vick opened the school in an old church with a “miracle” bank loan and $12,000 raised with the help of her supporters.

She had but eight dancers in her first ballet class. But the school soon became a hub for arts education not only in dance, but in music and the visual arts as well.

“I wanted to have a school, a place where the arts could come together,” said Mrs. Vick, remembering the dream that turned into a reality for her five decades before.

In addition to ballet, the McLean Arts Center has offered classes to students of all ages in many areas, such as Irish folk dance, Middle Eastern dance, pilates, and yoga.

Mrs. Vick reminisced about some of her past students, who include Lynne Cheney, members of the Kennedy family, and several professional dancers and choreographers. Others have remained students of Mrs. Vick for their entire lives.

The center hosted renowned artists of painting and music who continued to broaden the range of interests in the McLean community.

“We never compromised on quality,” Mrs. Vick said.

The arts center’s funding relied mainly on contributions from “some very supportive people” and small grants. Mrs. Vick emphasized the need for corporate grants that was never met because of her limited knowledge in the matter.

“This year was slow. It was hard,” Mrs. Vick said, citing unusually low attendance at the arts center as well as at other schools, perhaps because of the slowing economy and soaring food and gas prices. Her annual income of $6,000 was woefully inadequate to support her family. Unable to pirouette out of financial difficulty, she was forced to write a coda on the school that had become her life.

Mrs. Carswell described Mrs. Vick as “a teacher in so many facets that touched our lives.”

She marveled at her mentor’s perseverance. “Even if the odds were stacked against her, she’d knock the pitch great.”

The curtain may be drawn on the arts center, but the memories and life lessons Mrs. Vick provided to her students will not be easily forgotten, Mrs. Carswell said.

“She taught, guided, made you think, and made you carry on.”