CAS CONNECT 2017

14 Brienen and her two daughters. PHOTO/REBECCA BRIENEN “I really resonate with OSU’s land-grant mission idea that you’re giving back to the community — and it actually goes back to the motto of my undergraduate institution, which is ‘not to be served but to serve.’ So there’s this idea that I don’t just serve OSU but that I’m also a member of the community, and I serve the community.” Brienen’s vision for the center revolves around the intersection of community development and cultural programming. Building on some of the existing foun- dation, her plans include: • Bringing in more students, teachers and artists; • Implementing more workshops and camps; • Working with local retirement and homeschool communities; • Revamping the space; • Creating new jobs; • Paying artists more for teaching; and • Applying for various grants and fellowships. “Art is often treated as not being worth as much as a STEM field, for example, and art takes a lot of training, a lot of hard work, and we should respect that,” she says. The center will also get a fresh start with a new name: Stillwater Center for the Arts. As center director, she intends to work with other local organizations, such as schools and the public library, because she thinks there’s a place for these dynamic relationships throughout the community. She’ll also be teaming up with the OSU Museum of Art, which will run a number of future programs and bring in guest artists. Many events will be free or inexpensive. “I just want stability to ensure growth,” she says. “I have tremendous support from the OSU adminis- tration, from [Vice President for Administration and Finance] Joe Weaver in particular, and a number of people in the community have reached out to me in incredibly positive ways.” “I believe that this new approach, with the help of the OSU Art Department, will be a good thing and will encourage longevity for the Multi Arts Center,” says Gayla Foster, secondary education program coordinator and a professor in OSU’s College of Education. “This building is a true jewel for Stillwater and needs to be enlivened for both community and university participation. I look forward to working toward that goal in whatever capacity I can.” Foster has been involved with the center in various capacities since 2005 and served on the Friends of Multi Arts Board for several years. As for instruction, Brienen wants to involve a combination of advanced OSU students and visiting and community artists, which includes some current and former teachers. She’s also open to letting artists use the space in exchange for volunteer hours. “I’m happy to have Multi Arts be a venue for my students to gain experience, but I want us to deliver a really high-quality resource,” she says. “So I want us to be involved as mentors to make sure what we’re offering is at an appropriate level for our community.” The first program, “Around the World in 10 Days,” a summer arts enrichment camp for ages 9-12, ran in July. Liz Dueck, who recently graduated from OSU with a bachelor of fine arts degree in studio art as well as coursework in education, will be leading the camp and has been developing a curriculum under the oversight of Brienen and Foster. “I think this new partnership will be a great gate- way for arts students at OSU to investigate vari- ous careers in the arts in relationship to community work,” Dueck says. While so much is still in the works, Brienen’s robust vision seems to just get better and better. “The impulse to create art is fundamental to all human beings, so having this resource open and accessible to all is absolutely essential,” she says. “A strong community arts center can provide many positive things for our community. At the most basic level, a community arts center provides supplemen- tal arts education for public school K-12 and home- schooled students, a venue for creativity and art experimentation for adults and retirees, and a place where people with special needs can take classes that allow them not only to develop their imaginations but can also help strengthen things as fundamental as fine motor skills. “We really want the Art Department to support what’s happening in the community. I’m really inter- ested in developing a place where people not only learn something but develop a life-long appreciation for the arts,” Brienen says. “I’d like this to become a model … one of the leading art centers in Oklahoma. It’ll take some time, but it’s all totally possible.”