{"id":71296,"date":"2025-12-15T17:45:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/71296\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:45:08","slug":"jacqueline-weld-drake-hosts-annual-holiday-party-for-casita-maria-center-for-arts-james-lane-post-hamptons-culture-lifestyle-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/71296\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacqueline Weld Drake Hosts Annual Holiday Party For Casita Maria Center For Arts \u2022 James Lane Post \u2022 Hamptons Culture & Lifestyle Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jacqueline Weld Drake, the longtime chairman of the Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, invited the children\u2019s choir to her annual caroling holiday party. \u201cThis is why we work so hard at Casita Maria, to give kids a space for community, positivity, learning, and free expression,\u201d said Weld Drake, welcoming ten students to sing carols by the fireplace.<\/p>\n

Stated Executive Director Felix Urrutia, \u201cWe focus our resources on bringing in experienced, educated artists and teachers to work with committed youth, rather than taking a generalist after-school approach. That investment, supported by our Board and donors, is what makes Casita Maria different. It has made a significant impact in the enrichment and skill development of our youth choir, for example, and they have been invited to perform on WNYW TV\u2019s \u2018Good Day New York.\u2019 The entire Casita Maria family is gleaming with pride!\u201d<\/p>\n

Before flocking to the Christmas tree for presents, they performed Casita Maria\u2019s anthem \u2013 \u201cCasita Maria\u2026 This is the place where we can grow. We gather here in joy, our spirits high. We come to sing and dance. To learn with all our heart. The culture of the Bronx. A place where we can thrive, feel freedom in our soul.\u201d They also performed \u201cWinter Wonderland,\u201d \u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You,\u201d \u201cCarol of the Bells,\u201d and \u201cFeliz Navidad,\u201d and guests joined in.<\/p>\n

Board members Martha Bograd, Gautam Patel, and Ben Rodriguez-Cubenas were among the many guests, who also included Steven Aronson, Halim Bulos, Lady Liliana Cavendish, Lee Fryd, Susan Gutfreund, Eleanora Kennedy, Sharon King Hoge, Mercedes Levin, William Ivey Long, Alicia Lubowski-Jahn, Fern Mallis, Marc Rosen, Hunt Slonem, Justin Stewart, Mamie Kanfer Stewart, Sabrina Wirth, and Maria Wirth.<\/p>\n

Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education, the oldest Latin charity in New York City, provides high-quality arts education to over 1,000 students each day. Located in the South Bronx, Casita Maria creates a safe, welcoming community that enriches and uplifts youth and families. For more information, visit casitamaria.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\tTags:
\n\t\tannual<\/a>, casita<\/a>, center<\/a>, drake<\/a>, events<\/a>, featured<\/a>, hampton<\/a>, holiday<\/a>, hosts<\/a>, jacqueline<\/a>, maria<\/a>, party<\/a>\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacqueline Weld Drake, the longtime chairman of the Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, invited the children\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[1764,128,36408,9012,36409,4619,620,27815,249,27823,36410,36411,9,24,63,20192,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-71296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-annual","9":"tag-bronx","10":"tag-casita","11":"tag-center","12":"tag-drake","13":"tag-events","14":"tag-featured","15":"tag-hampton","16":"tag-holiday","17":"tag-hosts","18":"tag-jacqueline","19":"tag-maria","20":"tag-new-york","21":"tag-new-york-city","22":"tag-nyc","23":"tag-party","24":"tag-the-bronx","25":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","26":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}