In full disclosure, Carolina Arts joined a month or so ago, but it has taken us all that time to get ourselves a page up on the Charleston Culture website – not that it’s that hard. Actually it was very easy and free, but we were busy doing other things and our household was visited by H1N1 and a few other things during that time. Lucky us! I’d tell you where you could find that page, but it’s more fun for you to search through the site to see how many times you can find us and see what you discover along the way.
Now, when I say we have joined the Coalition – I’m talking about taking out a membership – which you can learn all about at the Coalition’s website. Becoming part of Charleston Culture is free – open to anyone in the Greater Charleston creative community.
We are representing Northern Berkeley County from the community of Bonneau, SC. Since part of the city of Charleston is in Berkeley County on Daniel Island – we qualify. So when you think about the tri-counties (the greater Charleston area), Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties – you’re talking about McClellanville to Edisto in Charleston County, Goose Creek to St. Stephen in Berkeley County, and Summerville to St. George – and a whole lot of creativity in-between – not just downtown Charleston.
In reality, if someone wanted to become a member of the Charleston Arts Coalition from Greenville, SC; Charlotte, NC; Boston, MA; Paris, ID, Paris, IL, Paris, ME, Paris, France; or wherever to support the Coalition in its efforts to create, unite, inspire – I’m sure they’ll take your money – they’re set up for PayPal on their site. And, for all the people out there who have enjoyed or look forward to enjoying Charleston’s creative spirit – I’m sure that’s going to happen.
So what do you get if you join – besides the satisfaction of being part of something so wonderful and creative – well you can check out all the tangible rewards at this link – if the warm fuzzy feeling of being part of something isn’t enough, to see what you will receive at each membership level. But like all organizations – what you get is pretty much tied to what you put in and more. No one wants just a bunch of membership card holders – they want people to get involved. And, involvement doesn’t always mean attending what other members have worked so hard to offer – it means being on the hard working end sometimes. But, if you just don’t see yourself in the hard working category – that’s OK – just make sure you’re joining at the very highest level. Let your money work for you.
So what do I expect to get out of my membership? Well, we’re already part of Charleston Culture – linking us up to everyone who comes across that website. And we’re going to do our part to let everyone know about it as much as we can (think Seagrove pottery). But, I’m looking for some of that collaboration that has been going around the leaders and members of the Coalition – like the kind that was talked about at the Coalition’s Town Hall Meeting held back in Aug. 09. Here’s a link to my posting on that event.
And, my idea of collaboration isn’t everyone asking to be featured in our paper, on our website, or on the blog. I hope we’ll start to see some support from some of these folks. Collaboration is supposed to be a two-way street.
You see, I’m part of the old guard of Charleston’s art community and the Coalition represents the new kids in town. I can say kids in reference to my age, but these are not children – they’re just the new generation taking up the banner – which they will soon learn is the burden of the Charleston art community. It’s a heavy load at times. We’ve been carrying a load for Charleston for over 22 years.
So before I sign off duty – which I hope is a long time from now – I hope to share some of my experience and knowledge with this new generation – hopefully helping them avoid some pitfalls along the way – and learn some new tricks too. You have to keep on your toes to survive in Charleston’s jam-packed creative community. It’s such a small place for so many creatives to find their way. The journey can be full of obstacles, distractions and dirty tricks. Much like anywhere else. So, it’s good to have friends and collaborators along that journey.
We’ll see what happens. And I’m going to be checking the membership roster from time to time to see who else is joining and who isn’t. Not that I’ll be making a list, but I’ll be wondering why certain people and groups have not joined although they seem to be involved in many of the featured panels as speakers. Maybe some are better at talking and not so into doing. Well, that’s always been the case in Charleston, but it’s also always noted.
And, for all you other arts organizations out there throughout the Carolinas – this is my one backyard membership. I can’t join every arts organization out there in the Carolinas – much less every Chamber of Commerce that comes across our paper. It’s going to be hard enough for us as is to participate from Bonneau when things are happening in Charleston – a mere 1 hour plus drive – both ways. So don’t send those membership letters or e-mails.
Carolina Arts does its fare share of contributions throughout the Carolinas – we just don’t make a big deal out of it and we don’t ask those who receive those contributions to either. There are no deep pockets here.
So like we said on our profile on Charleston Culture – Carolina Arts supports the Charleston Arts Coalition in its efforts to bring the greater Charleston area arts community together and feels that every creative individual, arts organization, and arts related business should do the same. It also recommends that every individual and business in the Charleston community should do the same to make it a better community to live in.
You hear that, Boeing executives? Show us your generosity in return for all those incentives we taxpayers will be forking over to you.
Tags: Carolina Arts, Charleston Arts Coalition, Charleston Culture, Charleston SC