Dan Woods speaks with Kelly Downes, Director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, about the Council's upcoming move to Scout Hall.
Woods:
This is KRCU’s Going Public. I'm Dan woods, and I'm here in the studios with Kelly Downes. She's the director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. Kelly, good to see you.
Downes:
Good morning, Dan.
Woods:
So, you've got a lot of things happening down at the Arts Council. Let's first talk about the big move. What's going on with that now?
Downes:
Yes, so we made the announcement a few weeks ago at our Children's Arts Festival that we sold our building to the United Way. So, the United Way will be moving on to Spanish Street, and we are moving into Scout Hall, which is very exciting.
Woods:
Yeah. Did you think everything would come together…you know, move is a big thing.
Downes:
Yeah.
Woods:
Did everything come together? The stars sort of aligned, I guess, with the Scout Hall move.
Downes:
Truly, truly…Peachy Keen, you know, they opened up their wonderfully successful Roni’s venture. And so, as they kind of shut their doors, Jeff Rawson, who is the creative director at Rust Media and runs Scout Hall, who's a dear friend, came and said, “Hey, I know you need a space.” And so, it could not have aligned better for our needs, and I think the needs of the community, too.
Woods:
Staying connected with…so he knew you needed that. It's sort of talking to people, letting them know what's happening…keeps people engaged.
Downes:
Yeah, and that's it. It's like when you really talk to your neighbors and are collaborators with so many people, doors do open because, you know, there's like a continuum of care that happens when you're invested with your neighbors. And just like with our local news media and everything like that, it's amazing to know what's happening at the local level.
Woods:
So, tell us what it's like to move.
Downes:
Um, this is our “if you have a truck, you're my friend” season. So, it definitely, you know…like any move, you know, you just accrue so many things. And everybody knows that artists and art teachers are kind of supply pack rats. And so, we are definitely whittling everything down. We have somebody right now working on testing all the markers. So, you know…it's just, it's a process. But, we're definitely, you know, consolidating things. And we will be opening up in April, and our main gallery now is going to be dedicated to our visual arts cooperative. So that's really exciting, because they’ll make the move with us.
Woods:
Yeah, so this month you're actually closed for the move.
Downes:
Yes.
Woods:
And on the move day, I guess you would like to have some help from folks who have those pickup trucks available.
Downes:
Yes, if you love to move, if you have a passion for moving and the arts, boy, do we have the thing for you. So, on March 17, we are going to pay people in pizza and beverages to help us just transfer all of our things from the 16 N. Spanish Street building just around the corner to Scout Hall. So, it's not a lot of driving or, you know, hauling anything. It's just whatever you can do, we appreciate it.
Woods:
So, what do you think this is going to mean for the future? Are you excited about the new location and the foot traffic and what it might mean?
Downes:
I mean beyond the foot traffic…the foot traffic is amazing. You know, the historic Broadway corridor is such a treat. You know, being that that Rust Media has been such a close collaborator with the Arts Council in terms of the, you know, the Here lit program and so many things that we're doing with Scout Hall. We just got an amazing grant to do…from the Missouri Humanities to do this four part, you know, music series. And so, the types of things that we're able to do together really make Scout Hall kind of this artistic heartbeat of our community, and hopefully, that resonates outward into the region.
Woods:
That’s great. So, during this whole process, what have you learned about the community and about the area through this whole transition?
Downes:
That's a great question. I really have learned the power of collaboration, and I've learned that not everything happens in our time, you know. Sometimes you want to make such forward progress, but things are happening, you know, behind the scenes sometimes. I think that it gave me time to understand what's happening in local real estate and the way that, you know, the nonprofit world and businesses and all of these things are really interrelated. It gave me so much awareness of how important it is to know advocates in each of these arenas, so that we can start to help businesses, and we can start to help artists, and we can start to help nonprofits succeed. So, we really have been talking a lot about codifying that, and what that looks like to create something that, if somebody does want to start a new business, that they understand, you know, how to how to get a logo, how to get a design, how to get a realtor, how to, you know, navigate these processes to make it more possible. And so, that was really eye opening for me to see the relationship of, you know, commerce and the arts and all of that. I think that being behind the scenes, you know…I went into this to be an artist, and all of a sudden I'm doing spreadsheets and real estate.
Woods:
A bit of a U-turn there.
Downes:
Yeah. Yeah, but it's, I think, it's important to be schooled in all of this, because, you know, we are acting at a local level. I think creative change can happen in so many arenas. And, you know, we all are kind of…we have things that we're masters at, and we have things that that we need help on. And so, by having these really wonderful conversations about how to do things, and you know, who are the experts in their field, I think we can start to really come up with more creative solutions for the ways that we're designing the spaces that we're living in.
Woods:
I want to ask you…what occurs to me is sometimes I think we're afraid to dream…afraid to dream big. We don't always share what we're thinking, because nobody's going to get this, nobody's going to go for this. They're not going to understand what we want to do. But we should be afraid to do that, because sometimes having those conversations opens doors like you said. Wow.
Downes:
One hundred percent, and that's where I think, you know, a huge part of my job is talking to people about how to make your dream real. And, you know, because it's like we, we…one of the great American exports is our culture. And so, so many people come to me with these ideas, and they do seem so large and grandiose. And it's like, okay, this is the step by step process, because art is a process. And that's what's so powerful about the art, is, instead of focusing…yes, you want to focus on an end goal. You know, you want your portrait to turn out well.
Woods:
Right.
Downes:
But it's what tools and techniques can we use to ensure that the vision I have in my head is realized? And so, you know, that to me is the most interesting thing about my job is…how can we look at people's dreams. We live in this unbelievable microcosm that allows you to dream out loud…that it's so easy to connect you with two or three people who can help support you and help you do the work that you want to do. Because it's not me just taking your idea and, you know, taking credit for it. It's how do I empower you to live out your creative process and dreams? And we have a whole team of people that that, you know, have that same philosophy of just helping people do that. And so, I think that dreaming out loud is a really important component of it. Yeah.
Woods:
So, we got the move going on. What else are some of the things that are sort of coming up in the next few months at the Arts Council?
Downes:
So many things. So, we in this move, we really want to bring back First Friday with the Arts to a huge degree. And so, we really want every First Friday to be a huge celebration of the literary, performing, visual, culinary, and healing arts, because all of those go into making a healthy community. And so, we just want to have fun. You know, I think that's really it.
Woods:
Yeah.
Downes:
Can we do, you know, really creative things with our neighbors? And, you know, have poetry slams and, you know, go to Spectrum Record Lounge, and, you know, be seeing some music, or go to Scout Hall and take an art class. And so, we're focused on that, but because we want arts participation from everyone, we also are really focused on our participation for our K-12 kiddos. So, we have been partnering with the Boys and Girls Club after school for the last year, and so we're working on building that after school program. We want to get kiddos some music programming, and then we have our happy campers project this summer, which is going to take students through the history of the world via the arts.
Woods:
You have a lot on your plate.
Downes:
Just a few things that we’re working on, yeah.
Woods:
Just a few.
Downes:
Yeah, but, you know, when you wake up every day happy to do your job, because it's so inspiring. I just want to share that with other people. You know, that you can wake up every day and it's a new day, and it's an opportunity to be inspired by the world around you because there's so much here.
Woods:
Great. Kelly, it's always good to talk with you. Thanks for being here again.
Downes:
Thank you for having me.
