Four Things

Greeting WAColytes, WACmongers, friends, and passersby. Here's your friendly neighborhood update on all things WAC, in four part harmony.

1. The Community Arts Center Summit : 4PM Friday, February 26th

WindhamARTS is inviting all arts and culture organizations in our area that desire office, presentation, studio, performance, and/or meeting space to come to The Community Arts Center Summit at 866 Main Street in downtown Willimantic, at 4pm Friday, February 26th to discuss the potential of shared space. There is exciting potential for collaboration, plus the benefit of shared overhead (printers, copier, insurance, utilities, etcetera). WAIM , SWAC , Horizons , and the Wrench are being contacted, as well as member organizations of WindhamARTS, but any individual or group in our region who feels they belong at the table are encouraged to introduce yourselves and to know that you are welcome. Contact WindhamARTS by leaving a message at 860-450-1794 or via email at director@windhamarts.org. The meeting will be facilitated by Erbin Crowell of the Cooperative Fund of New England.

This plan comes out of Wednesday's meeting (2/17) where discussion focused entirely on the question of space, namely, do we accept the town's offer of office space? Those present agreed, we may want to say yes to the town's offer of office space, but we aren't ready to give up on 866 Main Street as a multifaceted center for arts in our community.

2. Transition Planning

Last night (2/18) John Cusano of the CCT met with Board co-chairs Kim Radda and Karl Norton, and yours truly (Amy Kalisher) to discuss the transition WIndhamARTS is undergoing and how we can begin to tackle big questions about the structure of our organization and how we can best support the arts in our community. Some good news: Our recent crisis does not jeopardize grant funding for the coming fiscal year. Consensus was clear: transitional planning needs to happen, the sooner the better. We will have help and guidance from John and the Peer Advisory Network.

3. Taking Care of Business: Career Strategies for Visual Artists

Have you heard about this statewide workshop series? It's $20/workshop (there are three) and it includes lunch. Excellent speakers flying in from all over. Check out the flyer, go ahead and register for a workshop. Anybody want to go? Want some company? Comment below, maybe there's a group who'd like to go together!

Career Planning: Saturday March 6th

Business Strategies: April 10th

Marketing and Promotion: May 1st

4. Romantic Willimantic

In case you didn't make it downtown last Saturday: with four vendors in our galleries and lots of foot traffic downtown, it appears that the Romantic Willimantic Chocolate Festival was again a big success. Big thanks to Lynn Duval and all who worked hard to make this event happen.