Saturday, April 5, 2014

Washington

"Building community through arts one experience at a time."

Sometimes, and this is a good thing, you have no idea just how profoundly an experience is going to impact you.  On Wednesday I was in Seattle, WA and I visited an organization called Community Arts Create (CAC).  There I met Ben Hunter, the founder and Director of CAC.  If I had just 1/37th of Ben's drive, passion and commitment, I would be extremely lucky.  Let me tell you why :-)

First let me borrow (and paraphrase) from CAC's site:

Mission

CAC strives to build community through self-discovery and shared experience.  We work to enhance a richer way of life by creating harmony through creative expression within Seattle’s very diverse culture.  Simply put, CAC partners with the community to create cultural competency through art of all forms.

Our Approach

We hope to help Southeast Seattle express their artistic identity through programs, exhibitions, performances and art installations.  We foster values intrinsic to art and artists: collaboration, patience, sensitivity, and the celebration of the collective achievement.  CAC strives to be the unifying agent, using art as the vehicle for cultural integration and, ultimately, cultural acceptance.

When I first discovered CAC online, I read these words and was immediately drawn towards this organization.  But when I met and talked to Ben, I learned that these simple words actually represent something much more rich, nuanced and diverse.  There is one word, which I have highlighted, that really speaks to what this organization is all about - community.  As my journey of giving has been progressing, I have started to write about what it has become to mean to me.  A large part of what I have been learning and experiencing has formed a concept and idea in my mind that I said I would share with you one day.  Since my journey has a long way to go yet, I will continue to tease you with what that is (but "community" is a big hint).  After all, I need to save something for the epilogue ;-)

Let me not start a tangent and instead return to CAC.  There have been a few occasions where I have stated that you can read about an organization online yet only truly know a small fraction of what that organization actually does.  CAC is no exception to this (and this is exactly what makes my travels so rewarding).  Ben met me at the train stop and then walked me through the community CAC supports.  He proceeded to tell me about the impact CAC has made in its community through the various experiences it has offered (and continues to offer).  And it is not just about the arts!  CAC is not just focused on one thing but instead they do anything that has a positive community impact.

Ben and I ended our walk by arriving at CAC's new home.  It is a shared space that is there to serve the community in many ways.  One such example is that the space is open for a few hours during the day to support the homeless.  Ben also showed me a garden space out back that CAC is going to start to develop in to a community garden, and a general place for people in the community to simply gather and enjoy a green space.  I could go on and on about all of the things CAC does to support its community.  I started this post by saying that if I had just 1/37th of Ben's drive, passion and commitment, I would be extremely lucky.  Now you know why, and I am definitely inspired!


Here is a mural that CAC got local businesses in the community to sponsor in order to freshen up a blighted wall and area.


I told Ben that the last panel could very well represent the vision of what CAC's community garden may become :-)


Finally, in terms of my donation, CAC received a digital camera to take the place of Ben using his phone to take all of their pictures.

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