Mercer Island Center for the Arts embarks on a journey to listen and discover what the Island community would like in a new space for the arts on the Island.
Since MICA’s reintroduction on Feb. 6 at the city council meeting, they have been planning and preparing for the ensuing year. MICA can’t wait to start creating a Center for the Arts, but there are a few more steps to accomplish before that can begin. One of those steps is the Community Visioning Dialogue.
On April 24 MICA presented its second Annual Friends of MICA Celebration. The event was hosted by Suzanne Zahr at her Suzanne Zahr Gallery and catered by Arista Catering. The celebration brought together 67 excited Island arts supporters, filling up the gallery with positive sentiment for the reboot of the MICA project.
That evening was the kick-off of MICA’s Community Visioning Dialogue in which Executive Director Paul Shoemaker and Director of Strategic Relationship Sharon Perez discussed what you can expect from MICA over the next three months.
The Mercer Island community should have already received the all island mailer sent out weeks ago titled Moving Forward together. MICA truly believes that they can only move forward together as a community and that is why MICA has created this visioning dialogue.
“I’m excited to get out and hear what the Mercer Island community wants in a new space for the arts,” said executive director, Paul Shoemaker. “All islanders should lend their voice in moving the arts forward. All ideas and viewpoints will be thoughtfully taken into consideration.”
To assist in the visioning dialogue MICA has enlisted the assistance of Phinney Bischoff; with over 30 years of creative and community engagement experience, Phinney Bischoff will partner with MICA to create and execute a series of impartial listening events throughout the months of May, June, and July.
These listening events will consist of one-on-one interviews, small group input sessions, large group visioning sessions, and a survey. The first of two-large group visioning sessions will be held Monday night, June 11 from 7-9 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club Mercer Island.
Locals may register at www.mercerislandarts.org/
This process is called ‘visioning’ because MICA wants to create a ‘vision’ for a community arts center on Mercer Island with the Mercer Island community. Of course, as always, if you have any questions about MICA please call 206-715-7671 or email AskMICA@mercerislandarts.org.
