Seldovia Arts Council’s report from Local Arts Agencies Today: Creativity, Community Connections by Susan Mumma
October 16, 17 and 18th Seldovia Arts Council Chairperson, Susan Mumma participated in statewide conference taking place in Juneau, Alaska This event was hosted by the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council and sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Rasmuson Foundation. The intent of the conference, Local Arts Agencies Today: Creativity, Community, Connections, was to allow networking between the various community arts councils and boards and to refresh the group’s enthusiasm toward effective arts leadership. The group explored the history of arts organizations nation-wide and new paradigms for local arts agencies today. They were asked to consider the true mission of the arts in each of their communities. Facilitators of the event were Maryo Ewell, author of “The Arts in the Small Community” and Barbara Schaeffer-Bacon, co-director of Animating Democracy. Among the attendees were Directors of the Alaska State Council, Charlotte Fox, Saunders McNeill, and Andea Noble, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Ben Brown,Victoria Lord of the Rasmuson Foundation, volunteer board members and paid staff who serve in leadership capacity in local community arts organizations state-wide.
The emphasis the conference was to help build new paradigms in arts management and to encourage each Alaskan group to continue to expand its mission into the roots of the community, through its, arts programs, schools, libraries, local cultural organizations, services and social clubs, communications and media. Huge ideas were presented in which arts play a dynamic roll in shaping Democracy and changing the creative face of America, then practical methods to achieve these goals in even the smallest community were explored. The groups shared ideas and methods and cheered each others successes.
Barbara Schaeffer-Bacon emphasized the goals of each arts agency through the lens of Americans for the Arts, a leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With a 40-year record of service, it is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. The thrust of the talk was is best summarized by the mission statement of Animating Democracy:
Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts Institute for Community Development and the Arts, fosters arts and cultural activity that encourages and enhances civic engagement and dialogue. It is based on the premise that democracy is animated when an informed public is engaged in the issues affecting people’s daily lives. The arts and humanities can contribute unique programs, settings, and creative approaches that reach new and diverse participants, stimulate public dialogue about civic issues, and inspire action to make change.
The state of the arts represents the health of the community. It represents creative excellence. It represents the best of our city spaces and public buildings. It links the arts to the economy through creative design in product development and business plans. In a nutshell, a healthy, thriving economy is partnered by a healthy sense of its arts.