What's Next?

Yes, let the work begin!  (Or is that: Let the work continue?)

From a wee gallery featuring Manya's jewelry designs, to an Art Walk that grew to be one of the largest in the state, to the newly celebrated Mural Society, to my latest, most artistically ambitious play: Teacup Tipsy (my fourteenth produced!).  That's an awful lot in just ten years.

What's next?  If anyone had told me a decade ago that our lives would be so full, I would have dismissed him as a crank.  For, I know that when you look at Manya today, you see the sober, responsible, arts leader.  Nevertheless, I can safely assure you that the Manya we all know today bears little resemblance to the girl I met in Asia twenty years ago.  Indeed, that winsome lass was equal parts reckless hellion and effervescent party girl.  Hardly the type we would expect to sprightly jump through all those logistical hoops, smilingly endure the seemingly endless committee meetings, patiently harmonize all those clashing tempers, or tirelessly rally the troops to the cause again and again and again; in short, all the ingredients needed to found, say, an Art Walk of acclaim.

Still, we did that.  We do that.  How?  Why?  I know that part of the answer is the public service bone that I inherited from my mother.  Yet, sometimes I have to scratch my head and wonder.  There's no luster in it.  And there certainly isn't any lucre.  And, yes, there are those moments in the hard times, during the darkest hours of the night when I wake thinking, "I can't go on."  

More fundamentally, though, I know why we do it: You.  That's why we do it.  That's why we keep working hard to help build this art scene in Edmonds.  Some things we do for you, that's true.  But I always love it most when we get to do them with you.  Nothing gives me greater pleasure than a delightful conversation at the gallery about some aspect of the growing, fertile arts scene with someone who truly cares.

Let this blog serve as a new clearinghouse for shared ideas.  Let it become a beacon of inspiration on those dark nights.  Let it become a central focusing point as we all move forward mounting those five murals next summer, celebrating the Art Walk's ninth year, and watching the summer exhibitions top fifty artists on that evening each month.

And whatever comes next, we'll do it together.

--Jeff