YA Mourns the Passing of Arts Advocate and Trustee Carol Belt
We mourn the passing of Carol Belt, who served as a Trustee of Young Audiences from 1997-2015. Her service as a Trustee was exemplary and she was beloved by all who knew her. Carol’s influence and impact lives on in our work, as children experience arts programs that bring them joy, expression, connection and learning. Carol’s personal commitment to Trenton’s children provided leadership and reminded us continually of our shared responsibility. Always a source of support and wisdom, always a gentle influencer and always kind, Carol will truly be missed.
Obituary for Carol Forer Belt
Carol Forer Belt, 77, an arts advocate and leader in arts education, who fought her whole life to keep the arts alive in public schools, died at home on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018, surrounded by her loving family.
Carol started her career as an art teacher to local Trenton students when she was just a teen. She continued on to study at the Rhode Island School of Design and got her first teaching job as an art teacher in the Trenton school system. Carol loved dance and the visual arts, and studied both while at RISD. She believed that training in the arts was a crucial part of education and that, without art, we are denying future generations access to creative thinking skills.
Carol’s career highlights included creating an arts curriculum for the Trenton schools, where she ran the art department for the district, to serving as a board member for the NJ State Council for the Arts and as a board member for Young Audiences of NJ. Carol was awarded the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor for her work in keeping the arts alive in schools.
Of her many achievements, Carol was most proud of her work in helping to establish and maintain the Trenton Educational Dance Institute, or TEDI, a program that supported dance and programming for thousands of Trenton public school students over the past 25 years.
Daughter of the late Dr. Robert and Mildred Forer, she is survived by her husband, Barry. Barry and Carol were married for 53 years and had a loving, joyous marriage. Carol is also survived by two sons, David and Jonny Belt, and their wives, Antonia Belt and Polly Smail. She is also survived by her loving grandchildren, Stella (17), Natascha (14), Grady (10) and Mazzy (8).
Funeral services are on Friday, Feb. 2, at 11 a.m. at the Princeton Abbey, 75 Mapleton Rd., Plainsboro, NJ. Private burial will follow at Ewing Cemetery, Ewing. A reception in Carol’s honor for all funeral attendees will be held at The Boathouse at Mercer Lake from 1 to 4 p.m.
A celebration of Carol’s life in the arts will be held in mid-May. The family respectfully requests memorial contributions to
bcfny.org/carol-belt-memorial-fund. The fund will donate to arts groups that support Carol’s lifelong mission of arts education.
Funeral arrangements are by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, 1534 Pennington Rd., Ewing Township, NJ. Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel 1534 Pennington Road Ewing, NJ 08618 (609) 883-1400