Focus Group

At our Arts Council Meeting in June we formed a volunteer focus group to come up with a mission and vision statement. That meeting was held on Aug 1st, hosted by Walter Zooi at the South Pasadena Music Conservatory. The meeting was facilitated by Lisa Watson, who recently organized the Art Walk in South Pasadena which was a wonderful event. The focus group members who attended were:

Walter Zooi, Lisa Watson, Mike Wilson, Eric Jenson,

Hope Perello,Sharon Frayer, Howard Spector,

Amanda Ramirez, Lynne Heffley,Shelly Stephens,

Kathy Fuller, Lisa Marsh, (and myself, Lissa Reynolds)

It was a wonderful, energetic and creative meeting. Much thanks to Lisa Watson for guiding the group! We have a good starting point which we will share and discuss at our next meeting.

Victoria Arriola is going to head up our Web site development, and community leader Ted Shaw has pledged $1,000. to help us get that started. So the seeds are planted and we will start figuring out how we want this "garden to grow" at our next group meeting! Bring yourselves, your ideas about our Arts council web site and how we can start to realize our Mission Statement.

I am leaving for the Cape May Stage in New Jersey to perform my one person show "A Woman Of Independent Means" by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, and will return at the end of Sept. So our next group meeting will be on Oct 3 11am-1pm so save the date and time and we will let you know the location.

Thank you all for each step forward in helping to form this Arts Council!

Lissa Reynolds / Fremont Centre Theatre

Homework Assignment!

At the second Arts Council meeting, Walter Zooi from South Pasadena Music Center and Conservatory collected names to form a focus group to develop a mission statement. As South Pasadena resident Ernest Dillihay, who works with the LA Dept. of Cultural Affairs, said at this meeting: “Until we know where we’re going, we don’t know what size bus we need to get there!” Lisa Watson, a South Pasadena resident, co-owner of SOPA Studios and Executive Director of the Downtown Women’s Center, volunteered to facilitate a meeting to develop this mission statement. Before the focus group meets we want to hear ALL VOICES- so please take the time to answer these questions and share your ideas.

Please post them before July 27.

The questions we need feedback on, are as follows:

1. What is the purpose of the council – what do you want the council to achieve?
(Please remember your answer should not detail specific strategies. Describe in broad strokes what you would wish the council to achieve.)

2. Why do you want the council to achieve this?
(For example your response might begin “in order to” or “we believe”)

A good mission statement should accurately explain why the South Pasadena Art Council exists and what it hopes to achieve in the future. It articulates the council’s essential nature, its value and its work. Your responses to the above questions will help the steering committee to identify an appropriate mission statement.

Thanks for taking the time!

Second Arts Council Meeting

I can’t say thanks enough to Jeff and Lorraine Burke for hosting our second Arts Council meeting at their BurkeTriolo Studio here in South Pasadena. Their space cries “beauty” & “creativity” which was what the people attending this meeting were all about. Everyone who attended was connected to the arts; actors, dancers, artists, producers, directors, photographers, members of arts organizations, and art patrons- it felt like family! Many new faces. I had no idea there were so many creative souls in this town I have never met before. So great to be finally be meeting you all now, gathered around this collective purpose.


The first thing I noticed about this second meeting was how much larger our drum circle was! At the first meeting, I was encouraging people to participate in the drumming. At this meeting people arrived with drums and some brought extra drums to pass out to others. This time, people just naturally took a seat in the circle and starting drumming. Children joined us for the first time, which was so cool! With Munyungo guiding us, our drum circle is starting to take on a life of it’s own. It already feels like a stronger heartbeat.


The meeting that followed was great... different opinions, different point of views, all positive suggestions on how to move forward. Like the different tones and beats of our drum circle gradually coming together as one. I feel like something not only productive but exciting is going to happen... I have no idea what but I can’t wait to see! I know in our conversations we are often “preaching to the choir” but it’s so great to have the choir all in the same room! None of us with our passion for the Arts need to feel so alone- at least not in this town!

Keep blogging and sharing your ideas- large or small.

You will receive a “homework” assignment soon.

To be continued...

Lissa

* Photos by Carla Larissa Fallberg

Photos From Our First Meeting & Drum Circle!

Here are some pictures from our first independent Arts Council meeting in March 2009!

The pre-meeting Drum Circle was lead by
Munyungo Jackson.

Terry LeMoncheck, Executive Director of the Pasadena Arts Council and Scott Feldman Executive Director of the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce spoke to the group along with Lissa Reynolds, Artistic Director of South Pasadena's
Fremont Centre Theatre.

Lynne Heffley wrote a wonderful article about the meeting which appeared in the March 25th issue of the
South Pasadena Review.

There were over 70 people in attendance!

Welcome!

Welcome to the informal South Pasadena Arts Council Blog!

This is our forum for each of us introduce ourselves to the rest of the Arts community in South Pasadena, and share ideas large or small about what we want our newly forming independent Arts Council to do!

Our second group meeting will be late May or early June, so get the ideas a'blogging so we can talk about them at our next gathering of creative minds!

On this blog leave comments and tell us about yourself, how you participate in the visual arts, performing arts, musical arts or supportive arts and what you think the most important thing an arts council can do to enrich the lives of the citizens of South Pasadena and help the arts in these hard economic times survive and thrive!

Lissa Reynolds / Artistic Director / Fremont Centre Theatre