Resolutions for an arty new year
By Pat Boyd, Executive Director, South Dakotans for the Arts

Everyone makes New Year’s resolutions—not to keep, but to remind us of our priorities in the coming year. I would like to encourage you to make three simple  resolutions that will dramatically change the arts in your community. You may not lose weight or get rich, but you will make yourself a better person—and your community a better place to live. Here are three things you can resolve for 2004—and you do not even have to leave your home town to do them.

1.         Consume the arts. This is really the easy one, because you get to be entertained while you’re participating in the arts. By attending arts experiences in your community, you encourage more art exhibits, concerts, performances, literary events and ethnic celebrations. It is not all performances, either—buy a book by a South Dakota author, or a recording by a local musician. Take a class from a local artist. Everything you do makes the arts in South Dakota better.

2.         Talk about the arts. Silence and apathy are deadly weapons, especially where the arts are concerned. If you liked an event, talk about it. If you read a good book, tell people about. If the high school band put on a heck of a show, make it the topic of conversation. Share your preferences and your dislikes, compliment and complain, urge and encourage. Conversation about the arts keeps them alive.

3.         Volunteer—to make your community better. Remember in high school that it was always the same kids who participated in everything? Band, prom committee, school newspaper, glee club, athletics—the active students were active everywhere. Some communities are still like that. The people willing to volunteer for the local arts council, helping at the school concert or putting together an exhibition of local art in the bank are the same people who chair committees at church, speak up at PTA meetings and jump into Chamber of Commerce activities with both feet. They have the same 24 hour days, but they believe in making their home towns a better place. Join them:  become active in community groups which support the arts.

For more about the arts in South Dakota, visit www.sdarts.org, a joint website of South Dakotans for the Arts and the South Dakota Arts Council.

Previous Articles
2006 - Fall - Get ready to warm up that keyboard 2006 - Summer - Company's Coming.. 2006 - Winter - Now is the time to make our voices heard 2005 September - Stop, look and listen 2005 April - Celebrating our student artists 2005 March - Students need equal access to the arts 2005 February - Art can cure cabin fever 2005 January - Arts website is a magic carpet 2004 December - The arts are a PARTNERSHIP for success 2004 November - A South Dakota Arts Thanksgiving 2004 October - Candidates should take a stand on the arts 2004 September - Arts Alive conference to light up the Black Hills 2004 August - Focusing on South Dakota’s art world 2004 July - The one, the only, the traditional South Dakota 2004 June - Follow the footsteps of Lewis and Clark across South Dakota 2004 May - Time for more and better education, not less 2004 April - Growing art 2004 March - Economic development needs the arts 2004 February - Artists are among the most successful people you will meet 2004 January - Resolutions for an arty new year

The South Dakota Arts Alive website is a joint effort of the South Dakota Arts Council and South Dakotans for the Arts. The organizations work together for the benefit of the arts in South Dakota.

South Dakotans for the Arts, SD Alliance for Arts Education and SD Community Arts Network
405 Glendale Drive, P.O. Box 414, Lead SD 57754 • Telephone: (605) 722-1467 • Fax: (605) 722-1473
Email: soda@rushmore.com  • Website:www.sdarts.org