An issue brought up at the October creative conversation meeting was that the arts community needed to find more ways to collaborate, and that more needed to be done outside of downtown. It seems that there are too many that are more interested in protecting their "turf" than in working together to help the arts community in Sioux Falls grow and thrive. We must work past those feelings...
dk

The Sioux Empire Arts Council does have many resources for artists of all ages -- visual, performing, literary. We are often able to assist on creative ideas that are brought to our attention -- There are resources and a knowledge base available to help on new projects.
dk

Katrina McKinney with Jazz & Blues described the After Hours program that she has put together with Audra Fullerton at the Washington Pavilion and Rebecca Breitag from the SD Symphony. They have built a program for young adults aged 20 to 40 that allows them to buy into one program from each of the three series. The programs selected from each series were especially chosen based on their appeal to a younger audience. A social event was built around each concert or show to lure a new audience to these events at a cost that is a little easier to live with. Tickets for the entire package were $100; now that the first program is over, the price has been reduced to $66 for the last two performance/social events. It seems as if this is a great introductory package for young arts patrons -- can we help spread the word on this program??
dk

The first creative conversations meeting took place on October 24, 2006, at the Horse Barn Arts Center in Falls Park. An overwhelming theme of the meeting was that there were not enough places in Sioux Falls for emerging visual artists to exhibit their work. There was talk of thinking "outside the box" on this, and coming up with places to exhibit that did not fall within the generally recognized confines of galleries or art stores. For example -- downtown store windows; bowling alleys; restaurants; get-togethers at friend's homes where art is exhibited; etc. Everyone was challenged to come up with some new ideas on this. Some research will also be done into the empty building spaces in downtown.
dk