By Shanta L. Evans-Crowley
How can we better showcase what we have to those who aren’t familiar with all we do in Windham County? How can we leverage our good stuff, especially through strategic partnerships?
“Windham County has so much going on in its arts and culture, but with a few cherished exceptions we tend not to leverage it,” writes Shanta L. Evans-Crowley. “Let’s connect more with the world beyond our beautiful bubble.”
This question has been on my mind, and a part of many of my conversations, over the past several months. I can best start to answer it by telling you how I first encountered Windham County — as a traveler, resident, and creative professional now serving as president of the Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC).
When I first started visiting Brattleboro regularly, I did not quite know how to take the “quirk” of the town. I’d been introduced to Vermont through Stowe on a short weekend vacation in 2006 but it took another two years before I really started discovering — and falling in love with — Windham County. And not only for its beauty but also for all of the ways that the place requires (if not demands) that one step out of the box to architect a life in the most creative fashion.
I’d always wanted to do more to make art and include it in my way of living, so I started volunteering for the Arts Council of Windham County’s Gallery Walk. I enjoyed the way the event brings so many together every month to enjoy the sights and sounds of art.
In 2014, as I was doing more photography, writing, and belly dancing, I was eager to network with other artists. My freelance media and public relations adventures brought me in touch with various artists, but I found that becoming a trustee of the Arts Council of Windham County was an ideal fit.
And a year later I was encouraged to become ACWC president. It felt scary and big (after all, we cover all of Windham County!) but this role aligned with my personal goal: more networking, and forging partnerships with all who lived on any level of creativity.
Windham County has so much going on in its arts and culture, but with a few cherished exceptions we tend not to leverage it. Let’s connect more with the world beyond our beautiful bubble. We’re certainly good at promoting to each other. You’ll overhear the dates of amazing performances just by sitting outside Amy’s Bakery Café; you can read of theater productions, music shows, literary arts, dancing, singing, theater, and so much more just by skimming the flyers at Mocha Joe’s and similar venues.
That’s low-hanging fruit. This is our backyard.
We can take all of the artistic culture — the beauty and the myriad displays of art and our creative pulse — and use it to invite travelers here so they can see, and hear, and feel, and taste what we do. Partnerships will bridge the gap.
Folks beyond find us for fall foliage season and winter sports. There is more that we can tap, much in the same way that our maple syrup is our liquid gold. Windham County arts are a portal and caravan, and they can be an invitation to our neighbors throughout New England and in New York.
All we have to do is reach out. When you create an event in Windham County, recognize this as an opportunity to invite visitors from further afield — let’s show off our stuff.
We already have some excellent examples to follow:
— The Strolling of the Heifers connected by integrating the arts as a part of the Slow Living Summit. Organizers saw the arts as a vehicle and potential partner in being a part of conversations of building community.
— Since 2005, Sandglass Theater and Next Stage Arts have been bringing together theater artists, activists, and community members to explore change around social justice. This year they are bringing all of these groups together and using the platform of art to address food, shelter, and justice.
In shifting our thinking let’s also set aside egos and politics to look at the bigger picture for the sake of our arts. ACWC is here to connect our arts, our culture, our Windham County, with the many folks who have yet to find us.
We can reach out to other councils and arts organizations elsewhere in the region to strengthen your work. I believe that we can and must set politics aside, and think —and act — truly more sustainability for the arts sector in Windham County. People need to get the word and discover everything they’ve been missing.
Writer, photographer, and belly dancer Shanta L. Evans-Crowley is president of the Arts Council of Windham County, an all-volunteer organization working to strengthen the environment for artists and arts organizations. She also serves on the board of the Women’s Freedom Center, holds an MBA in Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and delights in connecting with fellow creative-types around the globe through her website, http://www.wildlycreative.world.
