Press Release
August 31, 2009
Berkeley Arts Council to Focus on
Artists, Arts Groups and Audiences
“Amplifying the Power of the Arts Community” is the slogan and goal of the newly formed Berkeley Arts Council. The Council aims to put the spotlight on local creativity by increasing opportunities for area residents to experience the artistry of painters, sculptors, poets, musicians, actors, artisans and others; or to participate in creative pursuits.
When the economy slows down, creativity finds new ways to cope, and the arts in Berkeley County could get a boost to help get them through to sunnier days with the formation of the Berkeley Arts Council.
Inspired by the activities of similar organizations in neighboring West Virginia counties and across the nation, local arts activists Sterling “Rip” Smith and Malinda Shaver recently took the necessary initial steps to constitute the Berkeley Arts Council. “We’d been learning about the role of arts umbrella groups in helping to revitalize places like Frederick and Cumberland. When we visited their events, the energy was exciting and we wanted to help create more of that here at home,” Shaver commented.
In a prospectus for the new Arts Council, Smith points out that the goals for the new group are to support the activities of existing arts organizations but also to increase opportunities for residents to enjoy the creative results. “With the good examples of the Morgan Arts Council and AHA in Jefferson County, we have a lot of inspiration to help us succeed,” Smith said.
“Our first step was to get more information about local arts events and activities to everyone. We collected it and began to distribute it through email as the Berkeley Arts Bulletin,” added Shaver, reporting that the Arts Centre, Main Street Martinsburg, ArtBerkeley, Heritage Crafts, the Apollo and others contributed to the effort by passing the Bulletin on to their lists.
A recent issue of the Arts Bulletin highlighted exhibits and performances, also listing auditions, musical events, opportunities for artists to exhibit, and a number of classes and workshops throughout the Panhandle area. A free subscription by email is available for those who sign up at the Berkeley Arts Council web site, www.berkeleyartswv.org.
“We discussed the idea for the Council with many of the key people in the arts and the community, and with their encouragement, we decided to take the first steps. One of them suggested that the goal was to amplify the arts — make everything bigger. We really liked that idea,” added Shaver. And Smith commented that “We’ll have a lot of work to do, and we hope the community will help support the efforts to make Berkeley County alive with all of the arts.”
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