Thomasville Center for the Arts

Dear Center Friends,

With the latest news that we face at least three more weeks of sheltering in place, the Center remains quiet.  This time weighs heavy with concern for the well-being of everyone, but it has also touched us with a bit of grace. 

As a team, we’ve felt compelled to hit pause on our usual wildly creative urge to rush into action; to slow our pace and pay attention. To listen to what people are really saying and to watch very closely at what is happening around us. It feels like the right thing to do so we will be firmly grounded and present when our community needs us in the days ahead.

If you know our team, you know this has been quite a stretch for us.  Slow is not in our DNA. It’s been fraught with fits and starts, but we’ve made some strides.  We’re continuing to plan for next season as best we can, while managing to create a few virtual experiences that we hope will bring some joy to your world in the coming weeks.

True confession though: while we’re designing new ways to connect online, we secretly hope all of the world’s digital “pushing” will create a universal mental fatigue that will cause us to put our devices aside for a while and embrace the chance to just “be”.

It’s crazy, I know. But what if a digital time-out actually ignited a quiet, creative revolution that made our world more beautiful than it was yesterday?

Difficult times throughout history have always resulted in explosions of innovation and creativity.  We are living during one of the most transformative times our world has ever seen. For us to move through it stronger, we’re going to need more artists who can see light where there is darkness, and more compassionate creators who can solve problems we haven’t encountered yet.  We’ll need deeper understanding, more focus, and untethered creativity. Which means we’ll need to build our creative capacity like we’ve never done before.

Quite possibly, the most underappreciated and critical piece of the creative process is solitude. It’s only when we can slow down, and get really quiet, that we create the space for ideas to sneak in and flourish.

Amidst the challenges you and your family may be dealing with today, we hope you can find some time to embrace your isolation if only for a moment. Connect in a deeper way with yourself so when we are together again, our hearts will be full, our minds open, and our eyes prepared to see where the world needs us most.

Wishing you healthy, quiet, more curious days ahead.

Michele Arwood
Executive Director