Group Aims To Establish Performing Arts Centre

The Board of Directors of The Centre Limited, a Bermuda registered charity whose focus is the performing arts, have decided to move forward with a project aimed at establishing a performing arts centre in Bermuda.

The Board made their decision following consideration of a report titled An Appreciative Inquiry into Performing Arts in Bermuda. The report was produced following 10 months of qualitative research undertaken by The Performing Arts Centre Project, an initiative established by The Centre Limited.

Standing, from left to right: Jo-Ann Pully, Christina Frith Quinn, Ian Davidson, Eugene Dean, Gavin Smith, Peter Watson and Lauren Francis. Seated, from left to right: Audrey Brackstone, Ruth Thomas, President Dick Butterfield, Louise Jackson and Dr. Duranda Greene. Missing from the photo are Leo Mills, Alan Richardson, Bruce Hallett and John Gardner.

More than 300 people – performing artists and audience members as well as technicians and producers – participated in one-on-one interviews and group round tables grounded in appreciative inquiry (AI), a method of discovery that moves from the premise that in any given undertaking, there are successful components that can be developed and enhanced.

“We entered into this project with no preconceived notion of what we would discover, other than that there was likely to be some support for a performing arts centre,” said President of The Centre Limited Richard Butterfield. “Our objective was to listen to what people had to tell us about their experience with and hopes for the performing arts.

“However, all of us involved in the project were stunned at the depth of feeling expressed by those interviewed, even by interview participants who have never performed. For audience members and performers alike, experience with the performing arts is often transformative.

“Participants also told us that they feel much of the social ills plaguing Bermuda can be attributed to creative energy channeled in the wrong direction. There’s a strong feeling that some of the healing that our community so desperately needs can be facilitated by the performing arts.”

After considering the report on the first phase of The Performing Arts Centre Project, the Board of Directors decided to move forward to the second phase, which will include the following:

From May to December of this year, the staff of The Performing Arts Centre Project will continue to use appreciative inquiry to determine what the community wants to do in, with and from a performing arts centre. By the end of the year, a clear definition will be produced of what type of facility the community wants to create and use, how much it will cost and where it will be located.

“I am very grateful to my fellow Board members for allowing The Performing Arts Centre Project to take the time that was needed to listen carefully to the community,” said Mr. Butterfield. “Often, we assume we know what’s best for a project, particularly one that we care about. The great value of appreciative inquiry is that we aren’t imposing our thoughts and opinions on the community; the community is telling us what it thinks and feels. As a result, whatever facility is ultimately established will reflect what the community wants.”

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Category: All, Entertainment