Neosho Artists Hope to Create New Work of Art

From today’s Joplin Globe:

NEOSHO, Mo. – Residents could soon have more options to participate in the arts thanks to the recently launched Arts Council.

Members of the council are dedicated to “improving our community through growing appreciation and participation in the arts,” Chair John Mills said. “Of course that’s all arts, whether it’s performing or visual or graphic arts.”

Janet Penn, chair of the council’s resource committee, said she is not an artist, but she supports and appreciates all forms of art.

“I think it’s part of being a well-rounded person,” she said. “There’s a demand for that, and I think to be able to do the wide spectrum of all ages in it is real important.”

As resource committee chair, Penn works to identify venues that could be used for art shows and maintains a yearly calendar of events.

“Our ultimate goal is to have something on a minimum of a quarterly basis and hopefully have something on a monthly basis,” Penn said. “There’s a lot of different arts out there, and we want to make sure we tap into all of them and do it to where it’s on a regular basis.”

Penn pointed to Joplin’s Third Thursday art walk as an example of the kind of regularity she hopes the council can establish in Neosho.

Penn said the council also aims to use historic downtown Neosho as much as possible, taking advantage of empty storefronts and buildings such as the Civic Center as places that could host art shows.

“We’ve got a lot of resources in the downtown area so I think it’ll be a good fit,” she said. “Our downtown area is just very picturesque anyway.”

Next up for the council is an art festival called Art Squared. Local artists will be invited to display and sell their artwork around the Neosho Square and in available storefronts.

High school and college students will compete for a $200 scholarship to design a logo to put on a poster for the festival, Mills said.

No date has been set for Art Squared yet, but Mills said he anticipates it to be held in April or May.

The council also has ideas in motion – coming up with about 50 ideas at a recent brainstorming session – that will carry them into the fall.

Council members have talked about inviting the Silver Follies to the municipal auditorium, which “hopefully will spur interest in developing a community theater of some sort,” Mills said.

They’ve also discussed hosting “a big-band gala event” with a dinner and dance in the fall, putting together a community-wide choral performance involving local churches and participating in Neosho’s Fall Festival, which is held the first weekend in October.

“There are an awful lot of things we’d like to see happen,” Mills said.

The council is currently accepting donations to fund some of the activities members want to see come to fruition, Mills said. He said the council has also been promised grant money from the Missouri Association of Community Arts Agencies, which would have to be matched with contributions, he said.

Council members also are developing other fundraising ideas. The fall dinner-and-dance gala would be a fundraising event, Mills said. He also would like the council to host a gallery that could feature permanent or rotating art displays and a gift shop.

Mills said the council, which launched in November, boasts about 40 interested individuals and 10 to 20 people who typically attend each meeting.

The group just received a letter from the state, designating it as a not-for-profit corporation, Mills said. Last week, members worked to finalize their bylaws and establish their board of directors.

If you go

The arts council meets at 3:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the Hale McGinty Business Development Center, 216 W. Spring St., in Neosho.