Born from the Music is Art Festival, the Music is Art Foundation is a program that aims to show the importance of having the musical arts in public schools. Thanks to this foundation and the efforts of rock star Takac, students in Western New York who need musical instruments have been getting their fill. Takac was born in the Buffalo area and said he saw a problem with the lack of funding being put toward musical arts curricula in schools in the area. To help lessen the problem, he started the Music is Art Foundation, a “not for profit organization supporting the arts and youth involvement in the arts in Western New York area schools and communities.” The Musical Instrument Drive is one branch of the foundation. The mission of the Music is Art Foundation describes the foundation as “a privately funded organization dedicated to keeping the arts in education alive in Buffalo Public Schools through financial/material donations, mentoring and instruction from the private sector.” For more information on the Music is Art Foundation, visit www.musicisart.org. A large part of the Music is Art Foundation and the Musical Instrument Drive is the effort of the many volunteers who donate instruments to be refurbished and given to music students at no charge to the students or their schools. Through music events such as the Music is Art Festival, and other public promotion, the Foundation has gathered 600 to 700 instruments, many of them from people’s basements, for schools, said Takac. Takac described the process of how needy students get the instruments. Sometimes just one student will need a specific instrument. Other times, the Foundation donates several instruments to an inner city school. The Musical Instrument Drive isn’t the only local charity activity Takac is a part of. He also has done college festivals and a television series at the University of Buffalo, presentations in local high schools, and bookings for charity events, such as one for Buffalo’s Roswell Park. Takac said the most rewarding thing for him about helping Western New York schools and hospitals is “the opportunity to be involved again at home in some capacity that means something.” Takac expressed excitement at the “cross-pollination” of events and people that occurs every year at the Music is Art Festival and at the other events he works on. His local roots play a huge role in his decision to hold the festival here and help the schools here, he said. “My parents are here. My grandparents are buried here. My life is here,” he said. As Takac would say, “music is art.” He stressed the importance of music instruction in public schools and in our cities and towns. It is his inspiration for the work he does locally, including this weekend’s Music is Art Festival. “If you only teach reading and writing … there is no creative path of thinking and people become automaton robots,” he said. Come enjoy the Music is Art Festival on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12 starting at 10 a.m. and continuing all day. For more information on the festival, visit www.musicisart.org.