On Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 7:30 p.m., the creative cosmic forces of Vancouver will align at the Clark Public Utilities Community Room to answer the eternal philosophical question “What is Art... and who decides it is art?” The rhetorical question alone may cause panic, confusion, anger and loud voices in some. Add the fact it’s Clark County we are talking about, where community-wide arts movements are somewhat rare (understatment), and it has the makings for a wild time. In short, we can’t wait!

This idea of discussing the role of art north of the river is not a new concept. Over the years there’s been other efforts to shore up the arts. There’s been discussions, among community leaders and art supporters, in businesses and homes, and, within the confines of The Voice. But despite our interest, to date no overarching cultural structure has been created to unify the arts and assure their success. We might as well have discussed international disarmament, for all the success our discussions have brought to date.

Still they have come, the artists. The musicians. The acting troops. Without a lot of help from the rest of us, they have come to town, looking for a nook to grow as creators. We have ended up with some fine talent in Vancouver and surrounding cities, but without community support these groups often cannot stay long; little by little, they languish and die. Just this past week, one of Vancouver’s long-time art galleries, Gallery 21, closed its doors. They are not the first to go, and in this recessionary period, they will not be the last.

And do we care? Should we care? Apparently the sponsors of the April 16 forum believe we should. Co-sponsors of the evening are Marc Boldt, a Clark County Commissioner, and Arlene Johnson’s group, the Southwest Washington Center for the Arts. Emcee will be one of our scrappier (and more effective) leaders Bettie Sue Morris, who has served as a State Representative and on the County Commissioners and is soon to take over as President of the Vancouver Symphony.

Other art supporters on the evening’s panel includes Evergreen School District Superintendent John Deeder, Vancouver School of Arts & Academics Principal and Clark College music man James O’Banion, and the brand new Director of Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Peter Mayer.

That’s a lot of gunpower in one room — people with art and governmental backgrounds; people with a leadership track record. We ought to get something done this time! But wait, the key to success here is that a broad representation of Clark County show up and take part in thoughtful discussions. There’s going to be an open mic section to hear from the public and they are asking us to bring along our ideas for art (not our guitars or latest free verse).

But are we going to be there to share? The thing is, many people in Vancouver like to grumble and whine about how things should be rather than dealing with how things really are and thus making some progress in changing the here and now. And that useless whine is getting old, friends, very tired and old like last week’s socks that you accidentally shoved under the bed.

Instead of whining, what we need are new ideas to address our special situation. We’re not just a cookie-cutter example of all other American towns. We have our own special issues that have to be addressed if we are to progress.

How does a group of geographically-close small towns and bedroom communities band together to support art, living in the shadow of a big city burgeoning with art? As a working set of towns, sans large pockets of old money, how do we fund the arts? As a commuter city, how do we use art to bring us all into community and awareness of each other through art?

Well you won’t want to miss the answers to these and other questions in the civic dialog portion of the program when Betty Sue leads us through an exploration of the economical, cultural and social impact of arts in Clark County. And we surely don’t want to miss the open mic period, although, seriously, don’t bring the guitar.