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Commentary: Thank you

Barry Hessenius, WESTAF Blog, 11/22/11

Declining audiences, shifting philanthropic trends, government cuts, downsizing -- a lot going wrong, but yet there is much to be thankful for. I am thankful for the insightful intelligence of fellow bloggers; thankful for the Herculean and ceaseless efforts of the advocates across the country; thankful for the efforts of the foundation community and their leadership to keep it all alive; thankful for the policy wonks who ask the hard questions and the researchers who toil with the data to help us all. I am thankful for artists and believers -- but most of all I am thankful for you -- the average arts administrator who labors unheralded day after day against formidable challenges, often times long into the evenings and weekends with precious little acknowledgment. I am grateful for your dedication, for your passion, for your sacrifice and for your caring so much about what you do. For it is all of you -- often working isolated in big and small organizations all across the country in urban cities, in the suburbs and in rural towns -- that keep alive the promise of what the arts do for all of us. It is you who are the backbone of arts provision in this country. It is you who believe what we do is important -- that it means something. And, let me assure you it DOES mean something -- it means a great deal. So because you probably don't hear it that often, let me shout it: THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Thank you for your strength, for your character and integrity and thank you most of all for not quitting. You are a remarkable class of people. Happy Thanksgiving.

Quotes of the Day: Giving thanks in a Shakespearean manner

London Shakespeare Workout Prison Project website

"I thank you for your pains and courtesy." -- Julius Caesar, Act III

"Only I have left to say, More is thy due than more than all can pay." --Macbeth, Act I

"I can no other answer make but thanks, And thanks, and ever thanks..." --Twelfth Night, Act 3