The value of arts to a community

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of spending an hour with a group of the 4-H Members. We spoke about leadership and made kites to soar our wishes for better leadership skills to the heavens. The kites will also be displayed at the Phillips County Fair booth in July/August. And, yes, our kites did soar – all of the 8 feet that we allowed on the string. We had a great wind and, standing out in the Veterans Memorial Park, with the wind blowing the kites in loop-de-loops, I thought about how great it was that our two groups could share those moments, connected by art.

Of more importance to me as the art teacher and the gallery owner, was the ability to share with them how arts play a leadership role in our community and in the world! You can’t get away from experiencing art, even if you live in a cabin in the woods with no electricity, running water or heat. God’s artistic creations are all around us – in the different styles of trees, flowers and plants, in the beauty of water running over rocks and the music it makes that soothes our souls, and in the antics of bugs, birds, and animals.

In structured communities like ours we are bombarded with the arts with the music on the radio, the commercial theme songs and arts logos on products and in commercials, the signs that hang on our buildings and the books that we check out of the library. Creative people were all involved in those efforts and many more.

When artists come into a community, they are self-motivated business people. Some of them will proclaim they know nothing of standard business practices, but if you offer them an opportunity to be part of a revitalization project, they will most likely step up and accept.

You know when artists are active in a community when you start seeing wall murals, hear street music, see street dancing, buy tickets for live performances – bands and plays, watch sidewalk chalk art being constructed, and have the opportunity to walk into an arts center and participate in activities.

The great thing about the arts education centers is that the money donated and the efforts expended stay in the community. The Montana Actors Theatre of Havre is providing our community with a per-forming arts camp this year called KidsMAT that allows the children from ages 5-13 to participate in a 4 day camp from July 13 to 16. They will be creating a story, writing a script, acting the roles, making costumes, scenery and props, and providing us with their best performance. The proceeds paid by the families to attend go to making sure that all of the materials are bought and educators are paid and to maintain the future security of the program. Business Sponsor funds go to pay for overhead expenses like travel, meals, rooms, insurance, and expenses not covered by the family proceeds. Art Spot will also benefit because money received over and above the initial sponsorship fee will help to fund our new preschool performing arts program starting July 2nd. It’s called the Little Splatters and is meant for children who are not yet in kindergarten who will receive performing arts training through game playing, story reading and re-enacting, and singing and dancing. We’re looking forward to hosting this free program every week on Thursdays from 10:00 am – 11:00 am.

The next time you want to learn more about the Arts and its leadership role in the community, stop by the Bohn’s Bones Art Gallery and see how many artists and crafts people we have found in our own Phillips County community. If you haven’t been in yet, you’re missing out on peace, serenity, socializing, and a lot of fun. Oh, and you learn a few things too. Better yet, get involved in art – see what you can do to volunteer and work on a community project that will make people look around Malta and want to come back to enjoy the vision.