Barry's Column

Dear Arts Council Friends,

    Because you are either a contributor to the Arts Council who receives our newsletter at home, or one of our friends who reads and follows our information through your work or one of our many distribution points, you know about the wonderful opportunities your Arts Council of Wilson provides for the community.  However, did you ever realize how many people do not know or have not ventured to come into our doors and see the beautiful artwork or have never attended the city’s Edna Boykin Cultural Center that we manage?   Let me give you some statistics; the numbers will surprise you.

    For the year July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, the Wilson Arts Center and the Edna Boykin Cultural Center, greeted or was a visiting place for more than 28,000 people.  Of those people who came to see our artwork or presentations, more than 40% were minority, and nearly 20% were youth under 18 years old.  That sounds like an amazing number, doesn’t it?  Would you be surprised that we are already exceeding two thousand from July 1, 2009, to now, and will well exceed the 28,000 visitors and attendees that we had last year?  I say that with confidence because we were unable to count any of the theater performances while The Boykin Center was being repaired.

    But, even with this news, I am not happy.  You see, in Wilson County there are 77,000 people who live and work here daily.  Most of them are not aware that the galleries in the Wilson Arts Center, 124 Nash Street, the old BB&T, or that building with the colors on it in front of the court house is open for them to enjoy every Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 to 5:00 and on Saturday from 10:00 to 3:00.  I realize I may be “preaching to the choir,” but you are the people who need to sing loudly and tell everyone what they are missing.

    Here is a case that will confirm my point!  Mrs. Wilson Lady with her daughter and grand-daughter were standing at the window on Goldsboro Street admiring the Cinderella dress that is on display.  I saw them, so I walked over to say, “Come in and enjoy seeing it up close.”  In conversation, as I am known to enjoy frequently and often, I learned that all three generations were from Wilson and Wilson County.  Grandmother asks, “How much does it cost to go in?”   I was astounded; they had “heard of” the Arts Council but thought of it as a place that they would not be interested in visiting.  They learned differently that day, but it took some convincing and even escorting them in so they would feel welcome.

Okay, that only needs to happen another 49,000 times and I will be a “happy” executive director.  Obviously, I need your help.  Now, it’s time to sing and it’s time to teach all of Wilson, which includes all of our surrounding communities, to sing of the many opportunities in the Wilson Arts Center and the Edna Boykin Cultural center. We need to let them know that every two months there is a new art show in town that they can enjoy, and that it’s free. 

    Let’s “teach the world to sing,” so start singing now. Wherever you are, get up and tell someone about the wonderful world of the Arts in Wilson.  You won’t regret it, and neither will that person you have just introduced to your Arts Council of Wilson. 

With a song in my heART!

Barry

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING TO DO IN WILSON COUNTY!