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As Steve Jobs has said approximately 2.7 million times (incidentally: also the number of iPhones sold per hour) regarding the Apple product de jour, "it just works." The same could be said about HERE/NOW. And like most if not all Apple products it's also exciting, engaging, easy to navigate, community-oriented, dynamic and well-organized underneath the surface. And while we have felt very proud of what we have been able to build in the 2.5 years HERE/NOW's been an active quarterly event, a good idea tends to feel a whole lot better when it receives some variety of hefty external acquiescence. And, so, after many purpose-refining conversations and time spent crafting the program into clear and robust terms has come the full support of the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs in the form of a one-time special projects smART ventures Program Grant. The grant was used to produce Installment 9 and represented the first time HERE/NOW was not strictly an out-of-pocket production. This is a profoundly important step for us, one that we hope will lead to our being able to attract and retain diverse and sustainable funding sources as well as create good and lasting bonds with value-sharing community partners. Which, in turn, will enable us to expand the breadth of HERE/NOW in ways that will exponentially add to the tack of our mission statement: to increase and diffuse knowledge involving the intersection of Dance and Music.
Special thanks goes to Paul Rucker... artist, musician and friend... for helping us in our attempt to receive this grant. His steadfast advocacy of the HERE/NOW program and its working as well as future goals is a testament to his dedication to growing the reach and impact of performance-based art within Seattle's communities. He is a valuable asset to earnest artists everywhere in this city through his honest and transparent leadership within the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. If you see him around town and are so inclined, please take a minute and thank him personally for the vital role he has played in helping us ensure HERE/NOW's place in the arts calendar. We couldn't have done it without you, Paul. Thank you.
We also couldn't have done it without any of you either. If you are someone who has made a point to be a HERE/NOW patron, thank you for choosing to spend your evenings with us. In fact, this grant was able to be applied for with any amount of confidence because of your effort, your vote for HERE/NOW as a vital art-based event a direct reflection of your patronage. If you have participated in HERE/NOW as either a Dancer or Musician, it goes without saying that we have loved having each and every one of you there, representing your specific artistic interests, and we thank you deeply for being courageous enough to do so.
Finally, if you are someone who feels the HERE/NOW program plays an essential role in the contemporary sociocultural dialog, or you are an advocate of Dance or Music, or you are interested in potentially creating a professional working partnership with HERE/NOW, or you share the belief that willingly experiencing randomness enriches the fertile ground from which life itself develops and therefore you feel compelled to further our cause by making a personal contribution to HERE/NOW, please contact us and we will make time to speak with you.
Gratefully,
Christopher & Paige
Co-Creative Directors | Co-Curators
