In a rare gesture at Belmont schools, the Belmont School Committee unanimously approved a recommendation from Belmont School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Kingston to name the photography darkroom at Belmont High School after Paula Lerner, the award-winning Belmont photographer who donated her extensive photo equipment to the Belmont High arts department before her death in March 2012.
“The administration certainly endorses the request as it is perfectly appropriate commemoration for the considerable contribution that Paula Lerner made to the development of a really compelling program at the High School,” said Kingston in his recommendation.
The request for a memorial plaque bearing Lerner’s name and date of the dedication came from Andrew Roy, the Belmont High teacher who instructs the Photography III Honors class and whose students use the equipment, which, Roy noted, is the “single largest donation to the photography program in [more than] 10 years.”
“There has been so much positive outcome from Ms. Lerner’s generosity and my students have truly benefited in ways far more significant that the material gifts and financial support,” said Roy.
The honors program used a Foundation for Belmont Education grant to create an exhibition of photos in Lerner’s style in the summer of 2013 at the Belmont Media Center in honoring her.
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