Mountain View Arts Society in Didsbury

Check out this FANTASTIC story about the creation of the Mountain View Arts Society in Didsbury! Thanks to the Society's President Kathleen Windsor for sharing their journey with us. Inspirational? We think so!

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It was the result of an ACE Leaders Teleconference on March 15, 2011, that spurred volunteers in Didsbury to take up the challenge of hosting an event during Alberta Arts Days (AAD). Kathleen Windsor of Didsbury joined in on that teleconference and became very excited about the prospect the AAD grant provided the community.

One e-mail to Nicole Aasen of Community Services, and an e-mail from Inez Kosinski of the Municipal Library, and a brainstorming session was scheduled less than 2 weeks after that initial phone call.

Almost 20 people attended that brainstorming session and everyone was gung-ho right from the start. We had writers, town councillors, business owners, artists, and reps from other non-profit organizations in attendance. The ideas ran swift and flowed from one to another. It was an incredible evening!

We followed that brainstorming up with a survey of those ideas in order to set our priorities – what could we host … what could we handle …

Next, of course, came figuring out a budget so we could submit our grant application to Alberta Arts Days. That required some red ink as well – some of our dreams simply could not be accommodated. In the end, our submission was accepted … after we all did our happy dance … the real work began!

This meant we had to decide on everything from a name and a logo to approaching Travel Alberta for marketing ideas and financial assistance. One of the things we initially wanted to do was not ask the business community for financial assistance if we could possibly help it, thinking they are hit up so much that we would try to make it on our own. Then somebody had a lightbulb and we realized we were doing our businesses a disservice by not letting them participate in what we expected to be an incredible celebration of all that was arts and culture in Didsbury.

That seemingly minor decision created an incredible change in our expectations, as over 30 businesses took part, whether with in-kind or cash sponsorships. Every time a donation came in, our volunteers lit up and were energized to do even more!

The end of September came and went. Our Mountain View Arts Festival was a great success! Our Saturday evening concert was sold out, the first time the high school band had ever had a sold out engagement! Over 50 entertainers and artists participated, ranging from painters and singers, to belly dancers, to a yoyo artist and a geodesic creation! The Library hosted a Writers Circle, Museum volunteers dressed the part and the place was hopping, the Community Engagement Site hosted seminars on digital art and screened films, we had Artists Trading Cards and a Collaborative Art piece that now adorns our library, and the Flash Mob during Streetfest was a real highlight. The schools were all involved, as were many "art-related" businesses in town. We all had a blast!

Evaluations followed and the "what now" conversations happened – all of which led to another brainstorming session. It was decided we wanted MORE! So … long story short … in 2012 the Arts Festival volunteers incorporated the Mountain View Arts Society, an organization designed "to promote and encourage a variety of artistic opportunities and events for the enrichment and enjoyment of the general public".

Our 2012 events have been determined and we are now looking forward to hosting an Art Show & Sale during the Didsbury Art, Travel & Trade Expo on April 14 & 15; Mountain View Rocks, a rock concert at the beautiful outdoor amphitheatre in Memorial Park on July 14th; and our Second Annual Mountain View Arts Festival on September 14 & 15! We are creating another website and a video as well! Besides hosting our own events, we are promoting arts, culture, and heritage events for other organizations, businesses, schools … you name it, we will be using our fanout system to help raise awareness for everyone in the Mountain View County area.

"This is probably the most active, creative, and engaged group of people I have ever worked with," says Society President Kathleen Windsor. "They share ideas, they compromise, they work together, they inspire each other. It's amazing what we can accomplish when we don't care who gets the credit."

Thanks ACE Leaders, for doing your part in keeping our communities informed.