I thought I'd post a few personal focus areas regarding 2006 and change efforts for the region.  We have so much to do, in so many areas.  In the spirit of the holistic view of sustainabilty and quality of life - I post my wish list for 2006 using our six-sphere framework:  these are broad outcomes, but i believe we can define specific action plans as discussion, dialogue, and inquiry continue.  Change, after all, begins the moment we ask the question!

Desired Outcomes toward a Better Quality of Life (2006)

Article One:   Arts and Culture

   As I kick off this series on my 34th birthday I dream of a future filled with arts. I would like to see a vibrant arts scene become heralded and celebrated throughout the region.  We need to support our local artists by connecting them to the  galleries  which can best promote  their work and create 'virtual galleries' online which allow for the effective display of artwork through an alternative medium (the internet).  RealNEO offers just the platform to help facilitate this process.  This would enable art students and other resource-needy artists to expose their work and life to all of NEO, the nation, and the world at large.  Working with RealNEO, wel will also raise awareness to the rest of NEO as to the interesting and exciting cultural events happening in the region and provide important details and report back on many of these to benefit those who couldn't be there.  This way members of the community still learn and gain appreciation for the things happening around them.

  The link between arts and culture and sustainability / quality of life is clear and definite.  A better quality of life speaks to having interesting and inspiring places to go where the expressions of artistic genius can be appreciated, human dialogue and interaction can be facilitated, and economic impacts result.  The arts appeal to and invigorate the senses - we celebrate the resulting auditory, visual, or tactile influences they have on us. We need to retain great artistic talent and woo new talent to our region by showing the world we love and appreciate art.

 Suporting local art economies is important as well - this is tied to educational reform that inspires the artist -entrepreneur to start their own gallery if they can't find one that supports them.  Citizens should learn how to appreciate and interpret art if they don't know how.  Should these foundational things happen - we won't be too far off from the day when the typical NEO resident has beautiful local artwork decorating their apartments and homes, inherently celebrating a vibrant local arts community.

So much in life is about incentives - and these are needed in the arts world like any other to provide necessary first-time exposure to those who previously lacked it.  Preconceived notions and prejudices can fall away quickly when this exposure is facilitated.  In the past I've proposed a RealNEO Culture Card - one the cardholder is proud to own and use - offering significant economic incentive to particpate in cultural events.  A mere swipe of this tech-friendly unit would provide 2-for-1 admissions or significant price reductions across artistic genres - encouraging a music fan to give visual arts a try, visual arts fans to appreciate natural history, and so on.  This is just one idea that I think could have significant impact in terms of economic development and quality of life in the short run.  Let's hear, design and implement more of these action-oriented plans!  Post your thoughts and ideas in our Arts and Culture forum- you can get to it by clicking here.