Be a part of our Renaisance |
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 Hello!
My name is Mike Burnside, and as the new Executive Director of the Cultural Council of Luzerne County, I want to introduce myself to you and I want to hear from YOU, because the future of the Council depends on you. Some of you may know me as an occasional columnist for the Times Leader, or through a mutual affiliation with the Luzerne County Historical Society, WVIA or the Great Valley Technology Alliance, or maybe you've seen some of my photographs. I have a lifelong commitment to the vitality of this region and I am enormously excited by the potential to contribute, through the Council, to enhancing the cultural growth of Northeast Pennsylvania.
In the last three weeks, I have talked with dozens of people about the Council. I spend most of my time listening - trying to find out how people perceive the Cultural Council and what people would like the Council to become in an "ideal world." I have learned that there is some confusion about what the Council is and does and a lack of understanding about its mission.
Our mission is to "promote awareness of and provide support services to arts, cultural and related educational programs in Luzerne County." How do we seek to do that?
- Provide intellectual enrichment by promoting the variety of art venues in our community
- Break down social barriers through culturally diverse programs
- Advocate the Arts as a viable and important segment of the economic revitalization of our community
- Increase tourism through expanded promotion of the arts and cultural events
- Lead public advocacy for support of the Arts in Luzerne County
- Help professional and amateur artists and arts organizations produce and publicize music, theatre, dance, visual, media and literary art.
- Assist residents and visitors to find, enjoy and participate in the artistic and cultural events available in the community.
In nearly two decades of existence, the Cultural Council has relied almost entirely on a dedicated group of volunteer board members and private donors to pursue its mission and goals. Its most visible success has been the Miles of Mules program. Other projects include Downtown Gallery Walks, Cafe Cinema, the Race for the Arts, the Artists on Display programs and Exhibition of Professional Artists for the 2006 and 2007 Governor's Awards for the Arts. The work of the Council has been sustained by funding from area foundations, companies and individuals.
Our vision for the Council is to make it the central, unified resource for cultural advocacy and promotion in the county - the first resource that comes to mind when someone asks, "How do I get a grant?" or "How can I promote this project?" or "What's going on next week?" We have many sectors in our cultural community - you can categorize them in many ways - geographically (We serve ALL of Luzerne County, as well as our visitors.), by genre - visual, performing and literary arts, our history and heritage, young & old, amateur & professional, established and emerging, for-profit & non-profit. We seek to serve them all. That is the message I have heard repeatedly in my first few weeks. "Embrace all you can" - and we will do just that!
We need your help, of course, in many ways. But the most important is your interest and engagement. We ask, first, just to keep the Cultural Council on your radar screen. Watch us grow. Then connect - visit our web site or blog (improvements on the way), attend an event, send us suggestions, put your work on our web gallery, your event in our newsletter. Then help us spread the word. In fact, you can start NOW by forwarding this newsletter to anyone who might benefit from it.
I look forward to hearing from you. The best way is to email us at cclcarts@gmail.com. Be a part of our renaissance! |
 Be Inspired!
Cultural Council of Luzerne County Embraces the Inspiration of the Susquehanna River
The 2008 Wyoming Valley RiverFest celebrates the Susquehanna River's legacy of inspiring art and its continuing ability to do so. The January issue of Art & Antiques magazine says, "Painter, poets, politicians and pundits have long enlisted [the Susquehanna] as an emblem of national identity, economic promise and ecological consciousness."
For 250 years the Susquehanna has been a source of artistic inspiration for some of America's most important landscape painters starting with Benjamin West, and Thomas Doughty, and continuing with such notable painters as Worthington Whittredge, Jasper Cropsey, George Inness, and Thomas Moran, all of whose works are featured in the exhibit "Visions of the Susquehanna" on display at the Roberson Museum, Binghamton New York, May 15, 2008 through August 30 2008. In collaboration with the RiverFest Committee, the Cultural Council of Luzerne County is sponsoring a trip to view the exhibit Friday May 30 2008.
The Cultural Council is also coordinating an effort to give area artists and photographers the opportunity to experience the river first hand and to create their own visions of the Susquehanna. On Saturday June 21 2008 and Sunday June 2008, The Wyoming Valley RiverFest will offer artists and nonartists alike two separate opportunities to paddle in the wake of these American Masters. Beginning at the Harding Boat Launch Route 92 Exeter Township, Saturday's trip gives paddlers the chance to travel 14 miles through the heart of the Wyoming Valley and see for themselves the beauty of the river. The trip ends at Wilkes-Barre's where En Plaine Aire painters will be practicing their craft, and where children will be creating their own river inspired art works. For those interested in a shorter trip, Sunday will offer them the chance to paddle from Nesbitt Park to Canal Park in Plymouth Township. This is the section of the river which figures so prominently in Jasper Cropsey's monumental painting " The Valley of Wyoming" a masterpiece of 19th century landscape painting. This section also lets paddles run the Nanticoke Rapids, one of the few sections of fast water on the Susquehanna. Both trips will offer the paddler the chance to see an array of wildlife including Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcons, and Great Blue Herons and will open a whole new perspective on this nature resource which for 250 years as been inspiring those who experience first hand.
Plans are also in the works for Sundays in May to arrange for artists to kayak to one or more of the islands in the river for a few hours of creativity from a vantage point on the valley that is new to them.
Selected works will part of a juried art show planned for September 2008 in Wilkes Barre.
In this way, the ripples created by artists in the past will expand and will continue inspire into the future.
For more information on the bus trip to the exhibit "Visions of the Susquehanna" and the kayak events, visit the Cultural Council's web site at www.cclcarts.org or call 570 825-6463
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The Cultural Council