TSKW Executive Director Turns One
by Eric Holowacz
from The Studios of Key West newsletter, March 2008
One year ago this week, I got on a plane in Wellington, New Zealand, and got off (several planes and several days later), in Key West. It was my first visit to the Southernmost Point, and four weeks later, I was moving my family here to take up the role of TSKW's first executive director. The past twelve months have been, in all ways, like a beautiful dream.
The immediate challenge was formidable, but not insurmountable: expand the TSKW physical plant, establish a professional staff, work with and grow an already impressive board of directors, forge new and unimagined partnerships with the community, investigate national and international cultural connections, and find innovative ways to support local creative people. When I got off that final propellor-driven plane in March 2007, taking in the hot and humid Key West air for the very first time, I could not have predicted the wondrous things that would follow.
But somehow when I look back on all we've dreamt together, much of the early challenge has already been met. As The Studios of Key West moves into its second year, our campus is becoming a center of creativity, artistic collaboration, community gathering, and cultural experience on this small, fruitful island. This remarkable transformation, still unfolding before our eyes, has been the result of hundreds, if not thousands of people who are making our creative community what it is. I'm talking about the painters, poets, young dancers, film-makers, drummers, educators, sculptors, actors, students, workshop participants, partner organizations and the friends and patrons who make this place real.
Anybody could have stepped off that plane last March and walked into this new organization. But nothing about the past year would have been possible (One Night Stand, Walk on White, Faces & Stories, Return of the Key West Picture Show, Sculpture garden installations, humanities lectures, big band concerts, student scholarships, visiting artist residencies, great workshops, potluck dinners and many an outreach opportunity) without the wonderful creative people who have added themselves to the TSKW vision. They have helped our organization harness its dream, in magical and impossible ways. They have turned us into a bold reality. And for that, I humbly offer 365 days of gratitude: with many more days, and a few more challenges, to come!
In March 2007 I also left behind another remarkable creative place: the Southernmost world capital of Wellington, New Zealand. There I grew my family, served as arts officer for the city government, helped establish a new multi-disciplinary arts center, advised and worked with hundreds of great creative folks, and managed to produce a basket of interesting arts projects for the city. It is a community I still miss, with people and places I will always love dearly. So I wanted to share the below audio conversation with newfound friends here in my new Southernmost community. The below link is my last interview before leaving New Zealand and taking up the challenge offered by The Studios of Key West. The show, hosted by Kiwi presenter Kim Hill, is called "Playing Favourites." And it's captured my voice from one year ago this week, and 18 time zones away.
You might call it the beginnings of my own beautiful dream...
from The Studios of Key West newsletter, March 2008
One year ago this week, I got on a plane in Wellington, New Zealand, and got off (several planes and several days later), in Key West. It was my first visit to the Southernmost Point, and four weeks later, I was moving my family here to take up the role of TSKW's first executive director. The past twelve months have been, in all ways, like a beautiful dream.
The immediate challenge was formidable, but not insurmountable: expand the TSKW physical plant, establish a professional staff, work with and grow an already impressive board of directors, forge new and unimagined partnerships with the community, investigate national and international cultural connections, and find innovative ways to support local creative people. When I got off that final propellor-driven plane in March 2007, taking in the hot and humid Key West air for the very first time, I could not have predicted the wondrous things that would follow.
But somehow when I look back on all we've dreamt together, much of the early challenge has already been met. As The Studios of Key West moves into its second year, our campus is becoming a center of creativity, artistic collaboration, community gathering, and cultural experience on this small, fruitful island. This remarkable transformation, still unfolding before our eyes, has been the result of hundreds, if not thousands of people who are making our creative community what it is. I'm talking about the painters, poets, young dancers, film-makers, drummers, educators, sculptors, actors, students, workshop participants, partner organizations and the friends and patrons who make this place real.
Anybody could have stepped off that plane last March and walked into this new organization. But nothing about the past year would have been possible (One Night Stand, Walk on White, Faces & Stories, Return of the Key West Picture Show, Sculpture garden installations, humanities lectures, big band concerts, student scholarships, visiting artist residencies, great workshops, potluck dinners and many an outreach opportunity) without the wonderful creative people who have added themselves to the TSKW vision. They have helped our organization harness its dream, in magical and impossible ways. They have turned us into a bold reality. And for that, I humbly offer 365 days of gratitude: with many more days, and a few more challenges, to come!
In March 2007 I also left behind another remarkable creative place: the Southernmost world capital of Wellington, New Zealand. There I grew my family, served as arts officer for the city government, helped establish a new multi-disciplinary arts center, advised and worked with hundreds of great creative folks, and managed to produce a basket of interesting arts projects for the city. It is a community I still miss, with people and places I will always love dearly. So I wanted to share the below audio conversation with newfound friends here in my new Southernmost community. The below link is my last interview before leaving New Zealand and taking up the challenge offered by The Studios of Key West. The show, hosted by Kiwi presenter Kim Hill, is called "Playing Favourites." And it's captured my voice from one year ago this week, and 18 time zones away.
You might call it the beginnings of my own beautiful dream...