The last word ...
(from final newsletter issue,
Feb/Mar 2005)
As
readers will be aware, after fourteen years Arts Shoalhaven Inc
is winding up its affairs at the end of March 2005. This is our
final newsletter. Elsewhere in this issue, we highlight some of
the organisation's achievements over the years and it has to be
acknowledged that the collective contribution of artists and craftspeople
during that time in promoting creative endeavours has significantly
impacted on the current vibrant arts and crafts scene in the Shoalhaven.
It has also rendered Arts Shoalhaven as redundant in its present
form.
In
my final piece as President, I don't want to dwell on the past.
There is of course a tinge of sadness over the demise of an organisation
to which so many people have committed so much of their time and
energies. But it has outlived its role and I am convinced that
we can all be extremely optimistic that arts and crafts activity
in the Shoalhaven will continue to thrive.
If
there is a gap left by the dissolution of Arts Shoalhaven, it
is likely to be its lobbying role. The present positive artistic
infrastructure in the Shoalhaven has come about partly because
Arts Shoalhaven has been able to represent the collective needs
and interests of the artistic community to other bodies, notably
the City Council. The many creative groups and individuals that
now flourish will, I am sure, continue to go from strength to
strength by their own autonomous initiative. But I can foresee
situations where the collective voice needs to be heard, where
persistent, coordinated lobbying needs to take place. It's my
personal view that there remains a need for an independent consultative
framework for the arts and crafts which can, when necessary, speak
on behalf of the creative community, for example, to funding bodies,
to business, to the media and to different levels of government.
I
think we can be assured that the arts and crafts community is
now sufficiently confident and networked that, if the need for
such a mechanism is more widely perceived, it will happen.
Finally,
on a personal note, it has been a privilege and a pleasure during
my time as President to interact with so many wonderful people
in our creative community. I thank them for their support and
friendship. May they continue to enrich our lives in so many diverse
ways, with wit, imagination, sparkle, quirky surprises, uncomfortable
questions, enchantment and humanity!
Martin
Millgate
President
2002-05
Arts
Shoalhaven Inc