Hello there. Welcome to the MAC’s maiden voyage into the
blogging frontier. You might roll your eyes at my word choice, but creating
this blog for the MAC makes me feel like an enthused explorer a la Lewis &
Clark, discovering new ways to communicate, while also experiencing the world
of blogging from the canoe rather than the riverside (did I take the Lewis
& Clark analogy too far?) So who is this overly excited person blabbering
her rudimentary knowledge of Lewis & Clark instead of describing the MAC or
its blog?
My name is Jordan McFall and I’m currently a writing intern
at the MAC. In my time here I’ve worked on press releases, Facebook posts,
Twitter tweets, and whatever words Executive Director, Jon Cook asks me to whip
up. I’m a budding writer and I look forward to sharing my experiences and
enthusiasm for the MAC and everything it does with you.
If you didn’t find this blog through our Facebook, Twitter, or maybe even our website, I’m impressed
and curious as to how you found it, and you’re probably wondering what this
“MAC” place is and if it has anything to do with apple products. (It doesn’t.)
The MAC is the McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, Ohio, a
community arts center that provides the local community with opportunities to interact with art in a
number of ways. The building, once a decrepit, semi-abandoned
high school, was lovingly restored in 2009 to the beautiful, sophisticated, and
modern home of the arts it is today.
Visitors can view local artists’ exhibits in the main
gallery, take a painting class in the painting and drawing classroom upstairs, learn
tap in the basement dance studio, bring their children to a stop motion class
in the digital media room, or watch a film, musical performance, or play in the
Bronwynn theatre. There are so many programs to participate in and always
something to experience here.
The icing on this delicious artisan cake is that 90% of what
fills this space comes from the local community. The instructors, art exhibits,
and musical artists all live within the Columbus area or have connections to
Worthington. And when we bring in someone from outside the community, you know
they’re stellar at whatever they do.
So what is this blog?
This blog is one big experiment.
I’m not afraid to admit that because the MAC is an
innovative, unique, artistic, ballsy place and as an intern here, I’ve decided
to take a risk too. In the past three years, the MAC has received strong
patronage from its local community, mostly made up of families, both just
starting and well established ones as well as older, possibly retired men and
women.
We love our community and everyone who supports us, but the
twenty-somethings living in Clintonville and closer to OSU’s campus, as well as
high schoolers in the area who either don’t know we exist, or aren’t aware of
the many amazing events and programs we have, are missing out.
I’m hoping this blog, coupled with a different approach to
our social media outlets will help the MAC reach out to these audiences. If this
audience is anything like this twenty-two year old, recent college grad,
they’ll find the MAC as inspiring, and thrilling as I do.
Also, in my research in how a blog such as this one should
look, I found other community art centers and their blogs. I would love for
this blog to become a way to interact with these centers and discuss what
programs and exhibits they host, what challenges they face as well as share our
experiences with them.
I want to learn more about what community art centers in
America are doing and share with them what we’re doing because it’s all pretty
cool, in my opinion. However, that’s a pipe dream we’ll get to farther down the
road.
Right now this is blog is a way to interact with an audience
we seemingly don’t have much communication with.
Keep an eye on this page because who knows what this blog will grow into.
No comments:
Post a Comment