Director’s Chair – January 2019
It’s snowing here on West Center Street. An amazing Christmas at the Palace has just wrapped up and the music of that show, along with the snow this morning, really has me in the Christmas spirit. Admittedly, these same things happen annually – snow and Christmas at the Palace. However, this year, I find myself feeling settled in for the holidays.
With candles burning and Christmas tunes playing through my computer, I am reminded that much of what the holiday season is about relates to people. As we gathered for Christmas at the Palace 2018, we focused our thoughts around the gift of family.
I have a great one. I’m grateful my parents are still with me. They’re even active volunteers at the Palace. My siblings all live in Marion. We don’t see each other often enough so this time of year has added meaning as we gather for family celebrations. My husband, three daughters and their husbands, and my eight grandchildren are the lights of my life. Things will look differently this year because we can’t all be together, but December allows me time with each of them, and for that, I am grateful.
The other family I have embraced as “my people” includes Palace people. Staff. Board. Local performers. Members. Sponsors. Volunteers. Ticket buyers and more. What an honor it is to share in your lives.
This season reminds me of you. Just as Christmas is for caring, sharing, giving, and gathering, you have been such generous supporters of the Palace in 2018. Thank you.
We hope to fill your 2019 with even more arts experiences at the Palace.
Americans for the Arts recently shared that 63% of Americans believe the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences,” 73% say the arts are a “positive experience in a troubled world,” and 64% feel “pure pleasure to experience and participate in the arts.”
Because we, like many Americans, believe the arts are a powerful force for good, we are expanding our programming in the New Year. Kristi Wink will join the Palace staff as the Director of the Palace Academy of the Arts, a full slate of performance arts classes and camps. Some of the classes are a great source of exercise and increased movement as we head into a season of resolutions to “be better” than we were this year.
I hope you’ll take a moment to read the January 2019 issue of the Applause as it is loaded with information about upcoming shows and our new classes.
Finally, holidays, too, are for loving and laughing. My wish for each of you is that you experience these very things as we wind our way through another holiday season to the end of another calendar year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Bev Ford
Executive Director