Rudolph Wells, co-founder and former president of SJSA, graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Professional Music and a Bachelor of Music with honors at Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, later receiving a Master's degree in Educational Administration from University of Miami.
He has extensive teaching experience throughout the US Virgin Islands introducing steel band music in the public schools on St. Thomas and St. John. At the College of the Virgin Islands, he implemented harmony, improvisation and arranging where he taught for three years. He was the director of Steel Unlimited and Steel Unlimited II, the precursor to St. John School of the Arts, with performances throughout the United States and Europe with recording sessions producing two albums. In the late 1990s he set up steel band programs in Bucharest, Romania and Yarmouth, Maine.
He has composed and arranged numerous orchestrations for Calypsonians and professional bands as well as composing original symphonies for steel band. He has served as guest lecturer and conductor of master classes in steel orchestration throughout the Virgin Islands and the United States.
Ruth "Sis" Frank, co-founder and executive director from 1980 - 2005, graduated in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education from Skidmore College. She has founded and owned numerous successful businesses including Interior Design Company, St. John's first rental home business, Holiday Homes Real Estate and St. John Insurance Company. She was the manager for St. John's youth steel orchestras, Steel Unlimited and Steel Unlimited II. These bands traveled throughout the United States and Europe.
Elroy Sprauve, advisor, is a native St. Johnian. He was a former Virgin Islands Senator and teacher at Sprauve School from 1963 then served as principal in the 1980s. His memberships include the St. John Historical Society, board member of the Ivan Jordan Museum and Lutheran Social Services and former member of the Virgin Islands Humanities Council.
Our History
In 1970, a steel band program was established through the St. John Community Arts Foundation directed by Rudy Wells. The band, "Steel Unlimited", was comprised of twenty eight young St. Johnians with Ruth "Sis" Frank as manager. It was "The Pride and Joy of St. John" with performances in the Rose Bowl parade, Disneyland, Lincoln Center, and Shea Stadium, and recordings at Criteria Studios in Miami. Out of the success of the steel band, the concept for a School of the Arts was born. Through private donations, land was purchased in 1981 to build a school, which took 10 years to complete with mostly volunteer labor.
During the building of the school, classes in art, musical theatre, photography, piano and Orff music were taught at different locations like churches, restaurants, etc. on St. John. In-school Orff music programs were established in public and private schools on St. John.
By 1990, SJSA's building was complete and Steel Unlimited II created. This band had 60 island performances yearly, and month-long tours in Denmark, Germany, and New York, and later in France and Switzerland. As the years progressed the school adopted modern dance; ballet; tap; ballroom dance; strings; brass and woodwinds into the curriculum. Later creative movement, steel band, and art were added to the in-school programs.
At present SJSA has hosted many cultural events, including the collaborative efforts of SJSA, Alton Adams Music Research Institute (AMRI) and Columbia College Black Music Research (CBMR) presenting "Summit on St. John" which honors traditional musician bearers. SJSA hosted The Traveling Quelbe Exhibit and Colloquium directed by Edney Freeman through a grant from Virgin Islands Humanities Council (VIHC).
Artists Association of St. John (AASJ) has given art scholarships for students to attend our art classes. In 2005 SJSA established the Ruth "Sis" Frank Arts Fund to provide financial assistance and performance scholarships. SeminarNite was created one night a week to offer a variety of classes for adults from Women's Self-Defense, Bellydance to The Art of Chinese Healing and Qigong.
To date our programs service over 500 students yearly with enrollment of 55% native Virgin Islanders and 45% continentals (children and adults). Our Golden Arts Program was created to keep the arts alive in our senior citizens with movement and music classes.
SJSA and its committed teachers are dedicated in taking a personal interest in their student's welfare. They encourage self-expression and self-esteem to help foster a sense of accomplishment, providing a firm foundation in life. SJSA is dedicated in providing high quality arts education and innovative programs.
