Jay Allred, the publisher of Richland Source, facilitated a conversation this past Friday among individuals in Richland County’s art community during pARTticipation, a series of discussion groups sponsored by the art and culture sector of RCDG. Allred’s talk centered on the question of how best to promote and foster growth in Mansfield’s creative scene.
“I’m coming to you as the person that runs Richland Source,” Allred stated, “But I’m also coming to you as a fellow community member with a lifelong interest in the arts.”
“What I’m going to pose is a question, essentially. The question is this: as an art community wanting to grow and flourish, are we [the art community] doing all the things that we need to do, from a business and a marketing angle, to grow that community?”
Patronage and outlets are not the biggest issue, according to Allred, “There’s a lot of outlets… a surprising amount for a region our size. The Renaissance, the MAC, Mansfield Playhouse, businesses that operate as gallery spaces, and it goes on and on and on.”
When addressing the question of when and how the promotion of the arts in Mansfield should happen, Red Cross Chapter Manager, Katy Davis suggested an approach that previews upcoming events to help build attendance. “I think there’s a commonly held belief with some media outlets, you tend to see these lovely articles about what happened last weekend, where it would be nice to find out what’s happening this weekend.”
“Repeated events are important,” stated Jennifer Hurst, “When, for example, there’s a Borderlands poetry series, if you hear about one, you know that there’s the chance to get another hint.” Hurst is a poet and novelist, who participates in monthly Literati readings every First Friday evening at Main Street Books in Mansfield. “And they’re repeated,” Hurst said, “So it’s the kind of thing you can look forward to.”
An obstacle noted by many of the attendees was reluctance on the part of separate arts-focused groups to work together. Jean Ruark shared her perspective on past efforts, “I was the last president of the Mansfield/Richland County Arts Council. It was nearly impossible to bring the different organizations together in a working group, and forget the proprietary ‘This is my territory’ attitudes”.
There has been some progress made on this front, according to The Mansfield Art Center’s Linda Chevalier, who noted that the MAC has been very open to alternative forms of creativity, and actively reaching out to people who may have been intimidated or felt they did not fit in at Mansfield’s largest gallery. Chevalier mentioned that this year, class sizes in their children’s programs have more than doubled, much of that due to expanded outreach efforts. “I believe it’s a new day for the arts. We can begin working together again,” she said.
Allred concluded his portion of the discussion by encouraging the traditional art community to reject classifications and prerequisites about what makes something artistic, and embrace local artists and craftspeople who may be practicing in unusual or inventive mediums and invite them into the fold.
Interviewed after his presentations, Allred said “Mansfield – if only by size alone – is not New York City. For us to emulate their highly segmented, aspirational art scene either by design or through our attitudes would be a mistake. Instead, we need to be open to all forms of creativity, identify those artists as part of our community, and seek to engage their respective fans and audience. Ultimately, that responsibility for being open to new voices rests upon the creative community itself. We see signs of that happening tonight [at the Final Friday concert series], and it is very encouraging.”
