We were honored to have German Mixed Media Artist Michael Pendry fly in from Munich to help us celebrate our school’s 60^th birthday as a guest speaker and take part in the unveiling of our 60^th Anniversary Community Art Project.  A self-proclaimed ambassador for art and culture, Mr. Pendry shared a beautiful and poignant message during our celebration about the ability of art to create change within our society and to bring human beings together.  “Art is as necessary to life as the air we breathe.” Mr. Pendry was gracious enough to arrive a day early to visit the GISW and spend time with our students.  On the Friday prior to our celebration, he held three consecutive guest lectures where students in grades 7 through 12 had the opportunity to listen to him speak and learn more about his life and work as a professional artist.   Students seemed to appreciate Mr. Pendry’s open and approachable nature and enjoyed talking and interacting with him.  The guest lectures took place in the school auditorium beneath the flock of paper doves which had recently been made and hung by our students.  We thank Mr. Pendry for sharing his gift with the world and allowing us to borrow his creative vision as a means of uniting our school community through art.