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October 4, 2007
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October 4, 2007 |
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Editorial Good sense, big dreams on the arts It was an exquisite autumn afternoon last Sunday, but nonetheless more than 50 people chose to come inside to hear the Yellow Springs Center for the Arts Steering Committee present its findings. The high turnout testified to the group’s mission: the arts are treasured in Yellow Springs, and they could be our greatest resource. The committee, funded by the Morgan Family Foundation and formed to consider whether to build a new arts center in town, met for a year, hired top-notch consultants, held a well-attended three-day community visioning event, and weighed the many opinions they heard. Their conclusion seemed a triumph of both common sense and community: we don’t need to spend millions of dollars on a brand new building to make Yellow Springs a thriving arts town. Instead, we need to spiff up, and add to, what’s already here. Sometimes it helps to hear from others what’s staring us right in the face. In this case, consultants Tom Borrup and George Sutton of Minneapolis made clear that the village already possesses considerable attributes, including a rich legacy of creative thinking, a diverse and tolerant community, a high level of volunteerism, and a commitment to lifelong learning. We also have challenges, including much deferred maintenance on infrastructure, volunteers stretched too thin, and a struggling college, among others. But much more can be done to enhance the arts in Yellow Springs, and the group offered a three-pronged strategy: restore the village’s cultural vitality, build on our reputation as a creative community, and improve arts facilities. Specifically, the group’s suggestions include reinvigorating the Yellow Springs Arts Council, establishing an arts presence in a storefront downtown, holding more arts festivals, displaying public art, re-igniting an adult theater program, marketing the village’s arts events, strengthening the Little Art Theatre, and creating a dance space, among others. While the group veered away from recommending an expensive new building, its suggestions are still ambitious. These goals will take time, money and effort; as the group emphasized Sunday, the work is just beginning. But as they also emphasized, the work is worth it. This effort is not about the arts as a frill, an extra perk to living in the village. It’s about the arts fueling the local economy, about people coming here to live and to work because they are drawn to the arts in our town.The consultants gave examples of three thriving small arts towns and, in each case, the community’s success grew from a cooperative working relationship between the town’s business interests and the arts community. At a time when the Village is beginning to focus on economic development, it’s clear that any effort must include the arts as equal partners with business. Thanks to the Morgan Family Foundation, to the consultants and especially to the committee members for giving so generously of their time, and for dreaming big dreams for the village. Now we have the opportunity to take those dreams and make them come true.
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