ArtCentral Initiative Making Progress on Bush Foundation Community Innovation Grant
By Elizabeth Freer
Matthews Opera House, Art Central Manager
The Matthews Opera House and Arts Center was awarded a Bush Foundation Community Innovation Grant in 2016 which is funding the formation and work of ArtCentral. ArtCentral is a community collaboration to centralize the arts as an integrated asset for inclusivity, economic development, and outreach in Spearfish.
The first project of ArtCentral was Cardboard Chaos, an interactive creative makerspace for all ages, which was held in the Matthews’ Art Gallery during February. It is estimated that well over 300 people participated, and the feedback and community support was very positive.
ArtCentral committee discussions highlighted the need for free and indoor spaces for people of all ages to connect and create, particularly during the cold winter months. We are looking at how this experience and partnerships in our community could be leveraged for future iterations of this project.
Our next project, Connecting Our Community Through LINKING FENCES, was recently announced through a “Call to Community Artists”. The goal of LINKING FENCES is to engage the community in a creative project that not only adds visual interest to our town, but also uses the chain link fences that typically divide us to forge new connections. LINKING FENCES offers an opportunity for everyone to express their creativity and make new connections.
The first fence installations will appear this spring at Creekside Elementary, West Elementary, Children First Preschool, and even BHSU. There is an opportunity for community artists to win cash prizes for selected submissions for permanent fence installations (proposals are due May 2nd).
The entire Spearfish community is invited to join LINKING FENCES this summer with neighbors and friends to decorate fences throughout Spearfish. Details on registering individual projects will be announced soon. We are also working on planning events for the fall to tour all the fence projects.
The 19-member ArtCentral committee meets about monthly and includes participation from many of our local organizations as well as individual community members. Organizations represented in ArtCentral include Black Hills State University, Northern Hills CASA, City of Spearfish, Grace Balloch Memorial Library, Northern Hills Training Center, Spearfish Schools, and Matthews Opera House. Individual community members include artists, health professionals, and other community leaders. The work of ArtCentral benefits from individual community volunteers in support individual projects.
In addition to these exciting projects, the ArtCentral committee is also engaging in conversations and forums that build our collective understanding and community engagement. We are interested in identifying innovative ways to create a more cohesive and inclusive model for community arts planning and engagement where we can work towards developing integrated programs across multiple platforms and organizations.
The entire ArtCentral committee is excited about our discussions and projects to date, and look forward to keeping the Spearfish community up to date on our activities regularly through this column. As this is a community-based project, we welcome feedback and suggestions as well as volunteers. Please contact us by email at [email protected].
Lead by Elizabeth Freer, ArtCentral manager at The Matthews, the project brings together a committee of advocates, artists, and residents working together over two years to create a new model for arts planning and outreach, focusing on the themes of belonging, inclusion, equity, rural connectedness, cultivating creativity, imagining space, and the arts as a community development catalyst.
“I am excited for this opportunity to work in Spearfish with The Matthews on this innovative and important project to advance the arts in our community,” stated Freer. “I encourage local residents who are interested in participating in this process to apply to be a part of the committee.”