The Art Experience and Collaboration

I recently participated in a meeting of people and organizations that are part of planning an inclusive arts festival and expierience that will take place in the spring of 2012. To me, this has been one of the best examples of why and how collaboration works and how it results in personal growth and community involvement. Three or four years ago a pretty small group of people from agencies providing support to people with developmental disabilities in the Finger Lakes region of New York and a few educators from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva NY, started talking about an arts festival that would bring the Colleges and people with disabilities together in a celebration of the arts. The first year the agencies sponsored a touring film festival and the Colleges had a few special events on campus. As the festival has developed more focus, clarity and the variety of events and activities have emerged.

As with most collaborative and organizational efforts there have been growing pains, the evolution of ideas, some personality struggles and lots of work - always. But I've also watched a committed team of people pull together and share common goals around education, diversity and the inclusion of people with disabilities. It's really been great to watch. The event is evolving into a true partnership between the Colleges and the agencies involved. People have a shared vision of offering college students, people with disabilities, agency staff, college staff and the community at large opportunities to learn together and in the process to learn about and support each other. All of this is being accomplished through artistic pursuits and learning - dance, film, poetry, music, sculpture and visual arts of all sorts. The Arts Experience, a celebration of inclusion and the arts, will take place during the last two full weeks of April 2012, mostly on the HWS Campus. There are still lots of details to work out but the project is really moving forward in great ways. I'll put more specifics on this blog at some point.

What I really want to point out though, is that this is a really important example of collaboration and leadership. None of this would be happening if it wasn't for the leadership of specific people from the agencies and from the Colleges. Leadership involves passion. It involves a belief system that wants things to be the best and to be successful. It requires enthusiasm, compromise and a willingness to commit time and resources. It also requires a lot more.

I'm going to continue to discuss leadership at various points in this space because it is so critical to what we all do and where we're all going. Frankly it doesn't matter if it's a celebration of the arts and inclusion or if it's the day to day operation of a large organization. It doesn't matter if it's as the mayor of a small village or as the leader of a country. Leadership is at the core of how things get done and it's critical that we have some understanding of how it works, what's needed.  There are thousands of books written on the topic and there's a reason for that. We know we need it. We depend on it. We beg for it at times.

So I may repeat myself every once in awhile in discussions about odds and ends on this blog, but follow the thread of thought and you'll see, I hope, how important certain traits and values are as we strive for leadership. Much more to come.