by Kirby Lindsay Laney, posted 13 April 2015
In early March, the newly elected Board of Directors of the Fremont Arts Council selected a new President from among their seasoned and experienced group – Barbara Luecke. The 12-member Board, elected in February, consists entirely of people who have history with this unique, and rather extraordinary, non-profit organization. Still, few have as long a history, or as strong a reputation in the world of artists, as Luecke.
The Fremont Arts Council (FAC) produces events and does community advocacy, and according to its website, the 501(c)3 uses creativity to build a stronger community that allows art to be an integral part of everyday life. In reality, it is a nearly-all volunteer organization that produces four major, incomparable events each year, and assorted minor ones, that give a chance for creative expression by everyone involved, doing all this without a model on which to base its operations.
Unassociated and focused on creativity, the FAC has struggled for years to find a firm footing, financially and otherwise, on which to build and grow its efforts. The choice of Luecke as Board President has given many in our community a surge of hope that a calmer, less fractious and more responsive future exists for our arts community.
An Operations Opportunity
Luecke steps in to her post with history, and many potential allies in any efforts to organize and set a direction for this often confusing collection of art, artists and advocacy. For over a year, other Board Members – specifically Susan Harper and Ricky Gene Powell – have established committees entirely intended to focus volunteer energy on creating a sustainable model for the FAC.
The Operations Committee (O.C.,) with founder Harper, met in early April. Luecke attended along with David Roman (newly returned to the Board) and another familiar Fremont face, Jon Hegeman, who has been working, on his own initiative, to fundraise to save Fremont’s arts community.
The group discussed specific details about creating a more welcoming and strategic model for the FAC. The Committee had findings from the open-to-the-public Town Hall Meeting hosted by the FAC on February 21st, where members and community supporters shared ideas on sustainability, inclusion and public art.
From there, the O.C. discussion ranged a bit, starting with a recap of a meeting with Altruist Partners (a business that helps non-profits find funding). The O.C. also discussed the possibility of growing FAC events beyond Fremont, to communities like South Lake Union and/or Redmond, that have shown interest in funding public celebrations of culture.
The O.C. also discussed City of Seattle grants, including the Small & Simple and the Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) (which Luecke once used to help fund installation of the Fremont Troll,) and the ability of the FAC to use this funding. The O.C. discussed who might attend an upcoming informational meeting, specifically one on April 22nd at Garfield Community Center, to find out which FAC projects and/or installations would be eligible for the NMF.
Hegeman brought creative fundraising ideas to the discussion, about creating hybrids of already existing ‘placeholder’ events, such as entering the painted cyclists that ride before the Solstice Parade into a Guinness World Record attempt, or expanding on Harper’s suggestion of creating a digital costume/puppet catalog into rentals.
Finally, the O.C. discussed Harper’s efforts in 2014 to create guidance documents – formalized, written policies on Powerhouse studio usage, volunteerism, Board objectives, etc. These documents have not gained much general support, although they could help stabilize and give foundation to this creative, but occasionally chaotic, group.
Luecke gave some great insight into the FAC. “People are coming as volunteers, with their hearts in their hands,” she observed, “with their passions, their hearts, involved in the art.” Their creations are not always professional, or deliverable, products and, as Harper observed, guidance could help give some form to the volunteer efforts. “It comes down to treating people the way you want to be treated,” Luecke said.
A History Of Success
The day after the announcement of Luecke’s selection as President, the notice of the FAC general monthly meeting – called the Committee Of The Whole (or COW) – went out – for the first time with a complete agenda.
Luecke has a history of hard-won success in the Fremont community, first coming to notice in 1989 when she worked with the Fremont Fair to produce an event to draw people in – and (with Peter Toms) helped the FAC create the Solstice Parade, based on the Santa Barbara Solstice Celebration she had worked on before relocating to Seattle.
Her best known Fremont project, however, is her leadership the next year when the FAC wanted to create a public art installation, and they chose a neglected site under the Aurora Bridge. Luecke helped organize the effort, including finding grant money for a call to artists, a public vote on the submissions at the Fair, and paying the artists to install an ultimately massive (and wildly popular) Troll sculpture, using plenty of volunteer help.
Since then Luecke has worked, professionally, with 4Culture and Sound Transit, organizing artists and art installations around our region, and continuing to build connections and her abilities to work with people. She has stayed a member of the FAC, but in 2009 she stepped in, again, in a large way, when she, with other experienced FAC members, returned to serve on the board. The members of the previous board gave a mass resignation, and Luecke specifically returned, she explained back then, to see that the Solstice Parade would once again roll through Fremont.
Giving Hope
The disorganization in 2009 remains a low point in FAC history, with today’s troubles paling in comparison, in my opinion. Still, the financial instability of the organization – and the doubt it raises about the future of the FAC – begs resolution.
The Operations Committee reached no formal decisions in April – such decisions do depend upon the COW and the Board – and with the May COW traditionally focused on production of the 2015 Solstice Parade, no real changes seem imminent for the Arts Council.
It will take time to see what can be done to give the FAC, and its volunteers, a stable foundation on which to build a stronger community through use of creativity in everyday life. Luecke gives many hope, including myself, but she will still need the assistance, and support, of that many to make the FAC the brilliant blessing the Center of The Universe desires.
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©2015 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.