HVCA’s Artist’s Roundtable from an 18-year-old’s Perspective. Written by Adeline Nieto

Laurie Klein moderated the first Artist’s Roundtable on June 10^th. To start off, everyone went around the table, introducing themselves. People had come from all over the Housatonic area and represented many mediums of art. Lisa Scails, the director of HVCA, described what HVCA is all about, and the conversation was then opened to include the local artists. So much was on their minds, and conversation easily piggybacked previous ideas, branching off from one area to the next.

From listening to them speak, I realized that the basic problem local artists face is that when people think of art & culture, they think of NYC and the Litchfield area, rather than the local talent we have right here in the Housatonic area. We mulled this over and found that fellow artists think HVCA can help solve this problem by fulfilling a couple of needs. One, to expose the talented local art and to serve as the “yellow pages” for artists in the Housatonic area. Two, to create a community for artists by allowing networks to be formed among artists and even to infiltrate to those that seek artists. For example, artists would like HVCA to serve as a resource for contractors/ architects/ decorators/ etc. when they want to buy from local artists. And three, the over arching need is to foster a deep-rooted appreciation for the arts.

The conversation was then brought back to the individual artist, and Hal Tweedy, a creativity and marketing coach, said that a goal for all artists is to successfully integrate their personal life, their work, and their art. And that once they find a way to correctly marriage these three together, creativity will naturally flow. Someone commented that imagination and creativity equals capital. Laurie Klein then supported this by saying that her college-aged son was told to get an MFA over an MBA. This is because people are now looking for great problem solvers, and MFA's represent those who are used to thinking outside the box. I realized that everyone had something they could relate to, but also something they could share.

When the discussion was through, HVCA decided that routinely meeting was a must. Overall, the Artist's Roundtable was a great success and it opened everyone's eyes as to how similar they all are and that if they work together, great things will be accomplished. More topics will be covered, as the future Artist's Roundtables will now be topic-oriented. You can visit hvculturalarts.org for more information.

Written By: Adeline Nieto