A More Perfect Arts Council
I took my family to the amphitheater last night to hear the Wasatch Winds and the American Fork High School Marching Band, performing as guests of AF's Concerts in the Park. Such a concert! I am continually in awe of the discipline shown by the youth of our marching band, and I admire John Miller's exemplary leadership.
Mr. Miller has performed an equally impressive act of service in founding the Wasatch Winds, a community band open to any who don't want their instruments to grow rusty. I greatly appreciate the impact this has on our community. It not only creates art for audiences, art which enhances our quality of life, but it also sets our youth a great example of adults, many of them parents of young musicians, practicing and perfecting a talent.
I counted some 800 or 900 people in the audience last night, and they were all having a good time. In fact, I've noted good attendance and good production values at dozens of Arts Council events this year, and each time I have marveled. I marvel that in twenty years, driven by the founding vision of Lori England, our Arts Council has grown to include so many popular programs, led and peopled by more than a thousand dedicated volunteers.
The reason I marvel is because I have been behind the scenes and seen how many strikes, organizationally, the Arts Council has against it. For twenty years, the Arts Council has operated without written by-laws or paid leadership. Without these, it has been difficult to plan or even to predict the composition of the Arts Council from year to year. Funding is always up in the air, and without the etiquette of by-laws, it is often difficult for City staff to know whether it can authorize requests.
It has felt as though the Arts Council were the red-headed stepchild of the City.
Fortunately, help is on the way. The City Council, seeing both the value the arts add to our City and the plight faced by our Arts Council, will act tonight to approve written by-laws and to authorize the charter, twenty years after the fact, establishing an arts council in American Fork. And at our last meeting, two weeks ago, we confirmed the appointment of Lori England as the Arts Council's paid, full-time director.
By doing this, the City Council hopes to legitimize our red-headed stepchild, stabilizing the Arts Council against the whims of shifting economies and political climates.
If you are one of the thousands who have attended the concerts in the park this summer, then I'll wager you also appreciate the enjoyable art, the beautiful natural setting, and the sense of community these concerts offer.
Or if you are one of the thousand who have contributed their talents to a play, concert, or art exhibit this year, then you understand the value our Arts Council adds to your quality of life here in American Fork.
And if you have taken your children to any of these events, or have encouraged them to take part, or have set them an example of your own participation, then we may hope you have sparked an interest that will kindle their further arts education.
Together, these forces add up to a safer, saner, more civil society. Putting it constitutionally, the arts help us establish that domestic tranquility which secures the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity -- bringing us that much closer to the more perfect union.
If the vote goes well tonight, this will be a good day for American Fork.
Mr. Miller has performed an equally impressive act of service in founding the Wasatch Winds, a community band open to any who don't want their instruments to grow rusty. I greatly appreciate the impact this has on our community. It not only creates art for audiences, art which enhances our quality of life, but it also sets our youth a great example of adults, many of them parents of young musicians, practicing and perfecting a talent.
I counted some 800 or 900 people in the audience last night, and they were all having a good time. In fact, I've noted good attendance and good production values at dozens of Arts Council events this year, and each time I have marveled. I marvel that in twenty years, driven by the founding vision of Lori England, our Arts Council has grown to include so many popular programs, led and peopled by more than a thousand dedicated volunteers.
The reason I marvel is because I have been behind the scenes and seen how many strikes, organizationally, the Arts Council has against it. For twenty years, the Arts Council has operated without written by-laws or paid leadership. Without these, it has been difficult to plan or even to predict the composition of the Arts Council from year to year. Funding is always up in the air, and without the etiquette of by-laws, it is often difficult for City staff to know whether it can authorize requests.
It has felt as though the Arts Council were the red-headed stepchild of the City.
Fortunately, help is on the way. The City Council, seeing both the value the arts add to our City and the plight faced by our Arts Council, will act tonight to approve written by-laws and to authorize the charter, twenty years after the fact, establishing an arts council in American Fork. And at our last meeting, two weeks ago, we confirmed the appointment of Lori England as the Arts Council's paid, full-time director.
By doing this, the City Council hopes to legitimize our red-headed stepchild, stabilizing the Arts Council against the whims of shifting economies and political climates.
If you are one of the thousands who have attended the concerts in the park this summer, then I'll wager you also appreciate the enjoyable art, the beautiful natural setting, and the sense of community these concerts offer.
Or if you are one of the thousand who have contributed their talents to a play, concert, or art exhibit this year, then you understand the value our Arts Council adds to your quality of life here in American Fork.
And if you have taken your children to any of these events, or have encouraged them to take part, or have set them an example of your own participation, then we may hope you have sparked an interest that will kindle their further arts education.
Together, these forces add up to a safer, saner, more civil society. Putting it constitutionally, the arts help us establish that domestic tranquility which secures the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity -- bringing us that much closer to the more perfect union.
If the vote goes well tonight, this will be a good day for American Fork.
posted by Heidi Rodeback at 4:48 PM
1 Comments:
A good step. Thanks for being an arts champion in the city.
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