All Hail to Thee Oh..., or, What Puts the Great in Great

I'm beat. Bushed. Kaput. In the words of Lilly Von Shtup, "I'm not a wabbit."

A long drive today, with a lot of time to ponder. I remember how much I loved that drive from my days at Waldorf. It's amazing what you can process in 9 hours on the road.

What a weekend (I hope you went to arts events)... lots of official things to do, from the dedication of Waldorf's new 6th Street Entrance to banquets, to tailgating and, of course, the "social engagements."

Waldorf's growth is very evident to me, because I come with perspective. I was at Waldorf during a tenuous period, and I notice the changes, both in the bricks and the brains behind the growth. I can't imagine what those classes that celebrated 50 year reunions felt about growth, changes and Waldorf's new missions of service. It must have been overwhelming. It's amazing what a point of reference and a bit of perspective give you.

Though it may sound weird, I stayed with two of my professors (they're married). These professors have become so much more - they are amazing people. They are just one of the reasons that Waldorf is such an amazing place, and holds such a special place in my heart. A flood of emotion accompanies any trip back, and I become overjoyed. I remember thinking, as I was driving the last 10 miles into Forest City on Friday night, even the pig s%it smells good...

It was good to be back. I got to see great friends (Joy, who I haven't seen since her wedding... Jeff, who I haven't seen since my graduation... and Jamie (who apparently now goes by Jim, which I refuse to accept) who I haven't seen in several months). It was great to see them, especially in our old haunt. I even made met new people, one of whom I'm looking forward to getting to know better... It was a good trip. It was a meaningful trip.

This morning, at our homecoming worship service (Waldorf is a Lutheran School), the pastor delivered a sermon that asked "What makes a Great college Great?"

The new president of Waldorf (Dick Hanson) is a sociologist by trade, and has a certain disdain for the word great. According to him, over the years, the word great has lost its meaning and has become a word void of any specific purpose. How often do we say "Great" and really not mean it?

As the pastor was discussing what makes a great college great, my mind focused on the many applications of this particular question, and I thought to myself "What makes a great arts organization great?"

Perhaps a great arts organization is great when it achieves a certain financial status. Those organizations that have budgets exceeding $200,000/year. In Grand Forks, that amount of financial positioning is unique, so surly those organizations are "great."

Perhaps an arts organization becomes great when it reaches a certain point of critical acclaim. Once the community recognizes the importance of the organization to the cities welfare, greatness is achieved.

Perhaps an arts organization reaches greatness once they exist for a certain time frame. Existence for several decades certainly achieve "greatness."

If you informally define "great," it is used to express enthusiasm, approval, or agreement. If we look further, beyond the informality that has come to plague our language, it defines as remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree or magnitude or effect. So, what is it, intrinsically, that causes an arts group to fill that descriptor. What is it that makes not only an arts organization "great" but defines a "great arts community."

Many of our arts organizations, by their age and nature, seem fledgling, but really have achieved many things that are "great." When I first moved here, I noticed immediately the amount of emphasis that area arts organizations placed on education. Even our pre-professional and professional organizations focus a portion of their efforts on youth education. The mission of our organizations reach beyond the ordinary scope of "art for arts sake" and really strive to bring art to the masses, starting with people at a young age. From baby ballet to the youth symphony, these organizations look to create artists rather than provide entertainment. At the same time, these groups are creating their own audience by infusing arts into community early on.

Many of our arts organizations are created for community access. Our organizations and their events, whether perceived or not, are not cliquey or closed. They embrace all. From the high-brow genre of symphony to community theatre, the organizations are open to all interested in participating. Granted, many are audition based, but the door is open to all.

Many of our arts organizations perform challenging programming, and are looking to expand their scope to challenge the audience in Grand Forks. Through we, by national statistics, are a small community, we perform beyond that level.

Do these things make us great? Are these things extraordinary? Perhaps, but these are not what makes our community great. These are things on the tip of my mind. Over the next week or so, I plan on asking the arts groups, and community members this same question. What makes arts organizations great, and specifically, what makes our arts community great? What are these strengths that we can capitalize upon, and what are the areas where we need to work harder?

These are the questions we need to ask. Moving forward, and moving up takes perspective. We must have a point of reference, and a benchmark. History is worthless if it teaches us nothing, and we as a community are nothing if we don't know what makes us great. If we are unable to laud ourselves and the work we do, people will better come to know us. We do a lot of things well, and many organizations are positioning themselves to be even better in the coming year. It's time to let the world know, it is time to preach what we practice.

9 hours worth of plans and ideas. A refreshing weekend. New friends. New perspective. It's refreshing and I can't wait to get started.

We begin.

Peace::Ben::TeamCulturePulse