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A big thanks in order for all who support the arts in Fergus Falls
Published 2:59pm Friday, October 8, 2010By the time you all are reading this, our Talk of the Town fundraiser and Second Chance Saturday will have come and gone. We so appreciate everyone who donated their time and their talents to make this happen: the artists and community members who donated artwork, the musicians who played in the orchestra, the pianists who accompanied the singers, the actors who played many characters and performed in the one-act play, the directors who put it all together, and the audience and participants who supported the event(s) through their attendance and participation.
We so appreciate the years that we have been able to work on this project with the Bigwood Event Center; the staff and the management there are always incredibly helpful and enthusiastic about the event.
This year they went above and beyond by accommodating extra equipment and rehearsals to make this year’s event “over the top.”
We celebrate their success along with our own and will continue to partner with them on other dinner theater programs — at least two every year.
We’re excited about this collaborative opportunity.
Meanwhile we are making plans to move next year’s event downtown where our little “Arts District” is growing little by little.
We’ve got some groovy ideas for something a little less spendy and a lot more accessible for more people, which is why we added the Second Chance Saturday this year — so that more people could participate in supporting the arts.
Over the next five years we plan to build support for the arts in many ways while strengthening Fergus Falls and the Region as a hub for the arts.
We also want to play a bigger role in downtown development while creating and inspiring dialogue about the world we live in through the arts.
As a part of the “Signature Events Team” of Forward Fergus Falls we are also a part of planning 10 weekend-long events that focus on arts, history and cultural heritage which will, again, strengthen the area as a hub for arts activities.
We still have a lot of work to do on audience building and we hope that by moving the Talk of the Town event downtown we can continue to build on this, along with our signature programs and series of arts activities and events.
We also have some work to do on upgrading and expanding our “footprint” in the community —whether it be in the theater, downtown or through other collaborative efforts that inspire “creativity, curiosity, imagination and learning” by bringing the best possible arts experiences to Fergus Falls and the region.
Thanks to a matching grant from the Veden Trust we are currently in the process of upgrading the sound and lighting equipment in the theater.
We know that the next thing to work on are the theater seats. We hear that they’re too small, too short and a little bit uncomfortable.
This will be a major project for us and will involve a lot more planning in order to raise the funds, implement the project and make the theater more comfortable for everyone.
There are some great stories about original installation of those theater seats and I promise that next week (or sometime soon), I will elaborate on the Fergus Theatre Seat Renovation Project.
For now, enjoy a beautiful week in West Central Minnesota.
Driving across the countryside is to witness a fall painting unfolding before your very eyes.
This is why we live in Minnesota — along with all of the great artists, musicians, dancers, and actors who have chosen to live here because of the natural beauty.
Rebecca Petersen is the director of A Center for the Arts in downtown Fergus Falls.
