Opinion: Corporate environment has most to gain from healthy arts community

When I started working for the city of Springfield many years ago, I met with Mayor Tom Carlson to get his vision for the new public information office. We met at the old Orville and Betty’s café downtown, and he walked me through the importance of planning. The phrase, “Plan your work; work your plan,” was not such a cliché at the time, and it has stuck with me since that early discussion.

I saw the importance of planning – I lived it, really – through the whole Vision 20/20 process. It was amazing how it worked to dream big dreams, write them down, get others to agree, and develop the steps to implement them.

When I had the privilege of being invited to join the Springfield Regional Arts Council in 2001, I came in the midst of its major planning update. There was a cultural plan that was more than five years old, and the council had a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and one from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks to get it updated and functional. So, even before I started work, I began sitting in on the focus groups and listening at community meetings. I saw the themes develop for more arts activities, for a coordinated approach to grant writing and sponsorships, for arts education and more.

It took three years from start to finish, but even before we completed the final document (which was approved as part of the Vision 20/20 process in November 2004), we were working the plan. My job with the Arts Council then became inextricably tied to the cultural plan. We set our budget around it, determined grant priorities from it, and constantly reminded our supporters of its goals and objectives.

As a result, I think the Arts Council is going down a path set and supported by the community. The board has built something more than the Creamery Arts Center, although that has been a great project. It has really built an environment for the arts. In this environment, jobs are created and opportunities flourish.

Here’s just a quick list of some of the accomplishments:

• Development of the Creamery to include offices, classes, and tenancy by the ballet, opera, symphony and a joint costume shop managed by Springfield Little Theatre;

• Education classes, including development of the ClayMobile;

• Development of the ARTery for artist studios;

• Publication of a variety of information brochures, including the First Friday Art Walk brochure in both English and Spanish;

• Character Ed coloring book;

• Web site development; and

• Children’s Playhouse developed at old Fire Station No. 6.

From a purely administrative perspective, the Arts Council has grown its staff and developed consistent policies, received the largest grants in its history, and been awarded the Pathfinder award from the state for blazing new trails. An internal audit and a bylaws review were both instituted. The council has developed consistent communication with its members and supporters, renewed the Ozzie awards, and participated in development of new programs and festivals.

And there are new opportunities just around the corner. All of this means that amazing growth has taken place, with a new awareness not just of the Arts Council but of the role of arts in our community. There is understanding of arts as economic development and as education.

The next director will inherit a workable plan and tremendous community support. Yes, I’m pleased with how far we came in five years. Yes, I plan to stay involved and available to serve. And, yes, it was a hard decision to leave. Not-for-profits in our area still face tremendous challenges when it comes to fund-raising and corporate support, and that means that employee benefits still don’t match what is offered in a corporate environment. And yet, it is the corporations who most benefit from a healthy arts community that attracts quality employees to our area. This is at least one of the challenges still ahead.

I think the next director will be able to walk in with several advantages, meaning he or she can hit the ground running. There is a plan – a workable plan that already has quite a few accomplishments to its credit. There are wonderful, talented staff members who love the arts and are tops in their jobs. There is a dedicated, committed board of directors who know where the organization is going and will help lead it in the right direction. There is a completed building, ready to help serve the community with activities that will continue to grow. We have direction and continuity, regardless of who is in the director’s seat. So I leave in good conscience, having been privileged to be a part of the Springfield Regional Arts Council since 2001 – and not intending to stop now.

Kay Logsdon is former Springfield Regional Arts Council executive director. In July, she took a position with Noble Communications.