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Show EDITORIAL Happy Birthday The Kimball Art Center opened nearly a year ago and has turned out to be one of the best developments in Park City. Art Center Board of Directors' Chairman, Bill Kimball, said a few days 6efore the opening that he hoped the Art Center would eventually become a nationally renowned institution and attract well known artists from all over the country. The Kimball Art Center, or any Art Center for that matter, would be hard pressed to achieve that goal in only one year; but it is well on its way to becoming what might be one of the best Art Centers in the United States. With over 300 members. Park City's Art Center has steadily grown not only in number but also in stature. There have been some impressive ideas come out of the administration and board members. The 6 month old volunteer organization, Kimball Art Guild, has injected a lot of time, energy, and through fund-raising events, money into the Art Center. The Guild's vivacious president, Tina Lewis, should be commended for trying to attract more attention and involvement for the Art Center. The Guild now has 75 members. Many people in and around Park City have enjoyed visiting and becoming a part of the Kimball Art Center. The Center offers classes and workshops covering a broad spectrum of artistic endeavors. The play productions, movies, and exhibits have certainly been popular, not to mention several musical concerts. Who could possibly forget the McLain Family Band performances? In the area of fund-raising, the "Outlaw Blues" event, sponsored by the Kimball Art Guild, raised $6400. The Art Center is fortunate to have such an active volunteer group helping out. In order for Kimball Art Center to evolve into a viable part of the community, we feel an extra effort should be made to create an atmosphere where locals will feels it is ' 'their' ' Art Center and one in which local participation can occur in plays, exhibits, and other art events. Eventhough certain residents feel the Art Center is an isolated part of town at the bottom of Main Street, many innovative projects have taken place during the past 12 months. The Art Center needs to enhance its reputation and what it has to offer to more people. Locals need to become aware that the Kimball Art Center is not a lifeless mass. We feel the Art Center should continue to pay close .attention to what it chooses to produce. There needs to be more plays and movies, considering how popular they were before. It has already been proven the Art Center knows how to be diverse in selecting exhibits. It would be nice to see people visit the Art Center everyday, and have the main gallery and classrooms filled with interested residents. This can happen only if more people are aware of what the Art Center has to contribute and offer. A membership drive is being launched soon. Hopefully, Park City will respond and at least "meet" the Art Center. We are lucky to have such an impressive facility in town. If it is to gain national stature, it will be only because the people in and around Park City make it that way. An Art Center is nothing without community support, and it would be unfortunate, even tragic, if the Kimball Art Center's growth was stunted because of apathy. |