One of my favorite organizations in town – admittedly, I have quite a few favorites – is ART 180, which has been doing genius work at the intersection of art, youth and opportunity for 15 years. Interestingly enough, ART 180 and Floricane have been dating since before there was a Floricane – I spent some time talking about facilitating a board retreat with the organization when I was at Luck Stone six or seven years ago.
The longer we’ve dated, the more I’ve fallen in love. Last summer, I spent an evening with ART 180’s youth leaders – teenagers whose lives were impacted by ART 180, and now play an active role in shaping the organization’s work. We came together to dream about the look, the feel, the energy of ART 180’s planned new space on West Marshall Street.
I had an opportunity to see that space last month, and it is an amazing home. It feels like ART 180, and the attention to detail sings out as you explore the space.
We're getting together with the board and staff of ART 180 tonight to go through some organizational breathing exercises. ART 180 has accomplished a great deal in its 15 years, but the past two years have been a period of remarkable growth and progress for the arts organization.
Breathing into another 15 years of changing lives. That’s meditation with meaning.