NW MI Arts & Culture Network
Connecting & Celebrating Creativity
Traverse City Record Eagle 5/19/23 – The creative spirit runs strong in northern Michigan. Artists and culture bearers infuse our region with their art, words, music, and magic, giving voice and shape to our shared stories in the brightest of colors and deepest of emotions. It also sparks community conversations and community building, bridging across sectors to challenge, connect and create new pathways to a future that is yet to be written.
Creativity is powerful. Whether we experience it as a creator, a participant, an observer, a leader, or all of the above, the role creativity plays impacts all of us and should never be undervalued.
Celebrating creativity was a key thread when the 2023 Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Summit convened on May 9 at Interlochen Center for the Arts. There were over 100 arts, cultural and community leaders in the room and via Zoom for this seventh annual regional summit. Attendees came from many corners of northern Michigan and beyond to participate in rich discussions, impactful topics, much networking, and a shared commitment to further the arts in our ten-county region. Dozens of speakers led panels, breakout, training, and talks, sharing resources, insights and inspiration aligned with the theme, Create: Connections, Capacity, Communications, Champions.
The regional summit is part of the Northwest Michigan Arts and Culture Network’s DNA. We gave birth to the Network at the first summit – held in the middle of a blizzard – in 2016 and used subsequent ones to structure and shape our vision to connect the dots among artists, culture bearers, nonprofit organizations, creative business, and communities in the ten counties of Northwest Michigan. Each summit since has reflected our growth and our times – through the pandemic, recovery, challenges, and the new normal – as well as the creativity and resiliency our sector brings to the table every day.
What were the key takeaways? There were many. Here’s a sample from the opening sessions:
Fostering a Creative Mindset
Consultant and retired president of Faber Castell USA Jamie Gallagher spoke of the essential role creativity plays as a critical skill needed to thrive and succeed in today’s world; an era he described as VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complicated and Ambiguous. Creativity enables problem solving, drives innovation, and fosters collaboration. All are significant yet society faces a creativity crisis, Gallagher said, citing the creativity scores of 5-year-olds are at 98% and then decline to 30% for 10-year-olds, 12% for 12-year-olds and only 2% for 30-year-olds.
Addressing the creativity gap is a role our sector can play. Artists often serve as intuitive bonding agents within society. Speakers noted the importance of diminishing judgement and fear by encouraging creative confidence, trust, and positive public perception. Key attributes in developing a creative mindset include believing in one’s creativity, persistence, childlike imagination, curiosity, suspending judgement and tolerating ambiguity.
Changing the Narrative
Interlochen Center for the Arts president Trey Devey applauded the region’s rich artistic legacy and cultural vibrancy. Citing the economic, social, educational, and intangible benefits the sector brings, he noted “how far above our weight we punch” with artists and institutions rivaling those in much larger communities. Yet, awareness of the arts as a key regional driver is seldom prioritized in the same way as recreation or the environment. This is a narrative we can change. Within our communities, we must remind ourselves why we do what we do, why it matters and our vision for an even stronger creative future. Leaders across all sectors are invited to join in sharing the stories, the strengths and the importance of arts and culture in enriching life in northern Michigan.
Making New Triangles
Writer Anne-Marie Oomen talked of traditional community building triangles and asked the question, what would happen if ‘Art’ was in the center of the triangle? Instead of the arts hovering on the sidelines, what if it was the anchoring hub with three vertices: Science/Environmental, History/Justice, and Culture/Social Science? Oomen noted the opportunities, innovation and partnering that can arise when the arts are at the table as a partner. She used several of her own past projects as examples, including When Water Moves a collaboration with FLOW blending environmental focus with Anishinaabe culture, poetry, dance, and video. Reframing the triangle with arts as the foundation, challenges us to create many new triangles and envision innovative collaborations from what might have been unlikely partners in the past.
Sharing Our Stories
We were reminded that our personal stories are the heart of the arts. Whether rooted in childhood, career or pivotal life experiences, those stories, and the emotions they evoke drive our connection to arts, culture, and creativity.
All were challenged to share their own core story with the thought starter, “When I think of arts and culture in northern Michigan, I think of …” Responses were left on cards or later emailed. They were as varied as those in the room. Interlochen Public Radio is gathering them as we tell our regional story with common threads and personal insights. If you’d like to add your voice, send your response to nomiarts@interlochen.org
The Summit is over, but our work to further arts and culture continues. It’s time to tell our stories – of impact, of connection, of community, of creativity – loudly and proudly. Let’s start creating new triangles together.
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As published in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, 5/19/2023
https://record-eagle-cnhi.newsmemory.com/?publink=060efbb44_134ab9b
Mary Bevans Gillett is the Convener/Director for the Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network. To connect with the Network, visit www.nwmiarts.org or contact arts@nwmiarts.net.
“What arts & culture in northern Michigan mean to me” responses can be sent to nomiarts@interlochen.org
