By Trudy D’Armond

Early this January I received a call from Bonnie Egbert of Bonney Lake. A retired school teacher and devoted volunteer for the arts, she was on a mission to connect with people involved in community arts to ask them to attend an important meeting pertaining to the Pierce County “Arts, Cultural Groups, and Historical Entities.” Because I work full time I had to decline her invitation, but was encouraged to write my observations and concerns about the status of arts in the surrounding communities.

Bonnie told me what I wrote was important to the final document of information with suggestions for action in a 10-year plan. She said another meeting is being planned for February and will most likely be in mid-afternoon as well. She noted there will be people coming from Seattle and from as far as Boston, Mass.

“The organizations of East Pierce/King Counties Plateau might want to get together,” Bonnie said, “to better understand the results of this survey and how our area can best utilize and expand upon the documents to come.”

 She continued, “Of course, of prime importance is the contacting of our political governmental officials at the city, community, counties and state levels. There are documents in print which very clearly point out the significant benefits that the partnering with the arts and cultural organizations and the governments and private businesses produce. It is well documented that ‘communities’ (meaning at all levels) that invest in the arts reap the additional benefits of jobs, economic growth, and a quality of life. It makes economic sense to partnership at all levels.”

It is encouraging to see the concern for the future of community arts, both visual and performing, is going to a higher level of appreciation and understanding. In my letter to the board overseeing this survey, I addressed the often forgotten volunteers within a community’s artistic network. This is part of my input to the survey board about our wonderful volunteers who seldom have a voice:

“One of the issues that plague well-intentioned meetings such as this is that they are notoriously held in the middle of a work week during regular work hours. The reason that I cannot come to this meeting today is because I have to work like the majority of volunteer, non-profit, community art exhibitors and performing artists. I fall into both of those categories. I believe we are the foundations that make community performing art programs and functions possible. Without the backbone and creativity of volunteers within our smaller communities and even larger populated areas, the cost of hiring people to do what talented volunteers do for the arts would not be affordable. I’m asking you to give the volunteers consideration. You cannot fall back on volunteerism forever when so much support is currently being taken away.

“May I suggest building a calling tree to alert the officers of organizations? The Chamber of Commerce of any community is a great source for telephone contacts for art organizations. Hopefully when there is a change in board organizations, they take the initiative to send those changes to their local chamber. Volunteers need advance notice because they are busy people. Schedule meetings a month in advance and start the calling and e-mailing for notifying organizations to mark their calendars far in advance. Generate a group e-mail notification address. Communication is crucial and if you leave out the volunteers, you’re not getting all the valuable feedback you need to make sound decisions. Let them know what important topics will be discussed and how it may affect their interests to inspire them to come to meetings.

“Would you consider giving artistic visual and performing groups that live in King County but are five or fewer miles from the border with Pierce County special consideration when awarding grants? Would you also consider this “Plateau Buffer Zone (or PBZ)” when forming a collective group list of community artists that perform in both counties? We cover the Plateau community. This PBZ is not officially recognized by either county as it sits directly on the border of both. Art does not recognize borders.

“Considering these versatile groups’ input would affect thousands of individuals who enjoy participating in the performances, who work behind the scenes and those who come to see their work.”

Community groups must not be ignored or dismissed. They must be held up as a valuable and inspirational presence in the community. These organizations promote cultural enlightenment, inspiration for students, adults and our senior citizens. Most importantly, they make a civil environment a profoundly better place to live in. Students that participate in community artistic presentations are often our future leaders and excel in whatever project they undertake.

It’s always good to have a voice and to feel free to address your concerns. My passion is the arts. Thank you to all the students, moms, dads and senior citizens who support the community arts. You should have a voice in the future of your community art programs, whether nonprofit or city backed. You are very important to our future generations. You are not forgotten and are very much appreciated.