Community Visioning … the Whole Community!

We believe in the power of the arts as a vehicle to teach us profound lessons about the most important art of all, the art of being human. Arts have an uncanny ability to circumvent politics and ideology. Art brings neighbors together to share meaningful experiences and creates important conversations and collaborations in a community that otherwise may not happen.  With art, we grapple together with life’s most vital issues.

Thank you to everyone that came together with us on June 11 to envision the future of arts on Mercer Island!

Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA) is conducting a Community Visioning Dialog, during the spring and summer of 2018, to get direction from the community on the needs for the future of arts on MI.  We engaged, Phinney Bischoff, a reputed local research firm, to co-lead and manage this study.  Input is being collected from individual interviews, small group sessions, large community forums and an online community-wide survey in July.

We asked for your participation on a beautiful Monday night in June for a visioning dialog about a space and a place for the arts on Mercer Island and you showed up. Wow, did you ever show up! Over 100 Islanders gathered together at the Boys & Girls Club (PEAK) and spent two hours engaged in a robust, respectful discussion on three topic areas:  The Big Picture, Imagining the Possibilities, and Programming and Activities.

We were blown away by the amount of positive energy in the room. People were highly engaged — leaning in to hear one another, showing respect to those who were talking, and lingering with their group-mates in between questions. We heard many of the same themes that have been percolating in our small group input sessions:

• Consolidation of arts organizations and activities
• A permanent home for YTN on the island
• Excitement for community gathering opportunities
• Lack of awareness around what’s happening in the arts
• A “safe” space to explore arts
• Pride of place (often tied to desire for “vibrant city center”)
• Redefining what Mercer Island stands for
• A space to DO art, not just see it
• Having more things to do on the island i.e. a 3rd place
• Interest in arts classes — both traditional and unexpected
• Intergenerational activities
• Attracting quality performances/exhibits

There were valid concerns voiced around cost and sustainability, as well as site selection. We found people who came in uncertain or opposed to the project willing to and engaged in the conversation. We also heard a handful of comments along the lines of, “Are we thinking big enough?”, not to mention the many conversations supporting the idea that there is a hunger to bring a sense of excitement and spontaneity to the island. Together these insights are leading us to believe that perhaps the definition of arts and culture might be broader for our community than we originally thought.  There seems to be a lot of excitement about the project and a genuine desire to find a way forward and we are very encouraged by it.

So, what’s next?  If you couldn’t participate in the June 11 forum, we’ll have another one in late July, in addition to an on-line community-wide survey on the same issues.   The small group input sessions will continue throughout the summer and we’re always happy to meet one-on-one. MICA will share the findings with the community at the end of the study in September, and use the input to direct the decisions on site selection and programming for a potential future arts center on Mercer Island.

Arts brings us together.  Thanks for coming together with us on June 11.

For more information visit MercerIslandArts.org; email info@mercerislandarts.org; visit the MICA office at 7710 SE 29th – summer office hours 9:30-1:00pm, M-Th. or ring 206-715-7671.